


While You Were Sleeping

by Pandoras_box1617



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/F, F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-19
Updated: 2014-07-19
Packaged: 2018-02-09 13:53:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 20,173
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1985370
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pandoras_box1617/pseuds/Pandoras_box1617
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Percy's life was lonely. Until he saves Bianca DiAngelo's life and is thrown into her crazy, yet lovable family. He is amazed by the loving family and grows close to them in a short time, especially Bianca's brother Nico. As this bizzare chain of events unfold Nico and Percy grow closer. Based of the Sandra Bullock movie.</p>
            </blockquote>





	While You Were Sleeping

There are two things that Percy remembered about his childhood. First, he remembered being with his dad. Poseidon would get these far-off looks in his eye, and he would say, "Life doesn´t always turn out the way you plan" Percy just wished that he had realized at the time, that Poseidon was talking about his life. But that never stopped them from taking their adventures together. Poseidon would pack up their sometimes-working car, and he would tell Percy amazing stories about strange and exotic lands as they headed off to exciting destinations like...Milwaukee. It´s amazing how exotic Wisconsin... isn´t. But Percy's favorite memories were the stories that Poseidon would tell him about his mum. He would take Percy to the church where they got married. Percy would beg him to tell him more about the ceremony...and about his crazy Aunt Hera who fell asleep in the macaroni and cheese. And Percy asked his dad when he knew that he truly loved his mum. And Poseidon said to him, "Percy, your mother…she gave me a special gift. She gave me the world." Actually it was a globe with a light in it. But for the romantic that he was, it might as well have been the world.

Well, the first time Percy saw her, she didn´t exactly give him the world. It was an L-train token. But Percy looked forward to it every single day. She started coming to Percy's booth between 8:01 and 8:15 every morning, Monday through Friday. And she was just perfect. Percy's princess charming. They've never actually spoken. But Percy knows someday they will. He knows it. He just knows it. And he knows that someday he will find a way to introduce himself, and that´s gonna be perfect. Just like his princess. Truth was that this princess was only the second woman that Percy had ever loved in his life, not counting his mother. Percy was more…experienced…with men. He'd only had sex with one woman in his life and that relationship had ended…tumultuously. But he was sure that that wouldn't matter to his raven haired, hazel eyed princess.

XXX  
"Forty-five dollars for a Christmas tree and they don´t deliver?" Percy grumbled to himself as he hauled his Christmas tree up to his window. "You order ten dollars' worth of chow mein from Mr. Wong´s, they bring it to your door. Oh! Ooh, I should´ve gotten the blue spruce. They´re lighter." He grunted to Blackjack, his raven Abyssinian cat. "Aah! Ooh. 

Shit." He swore, the rope slipped through his hands, and he heard a crash down below.

"Percy!" he winced, hearing his landlord yell, exasperated. Percy sighed and headed down to his landlord Joe's apartment.

"Nature of claim: Christmas tree through window. H-How am I gonna put that on my insurance? They´re still pissed about the fire we had when Leo barbecued in the stairwell." his landlord sighed as he filled out the claim at his dining room table, tree sticking through his window.

"I missed that one." Percy laughed and toyed with his giant sweater.

"Oh, great sausage." Joe winked at him, laughingly.

"Look, I-I´ll pay for this." Percy offered pointing to the tree and window, with a sweater covered hand.

"That´s okay, Percy. My brother Julie´s in the glass business."

"Oh...I almost forgot." Percy smiled, fiddling with his overlong sweater and pulling out a small wrapped present. "Merry Christmas."

"Ah, Percy. You, you didn´t have to do that." Joe blushed and accepted the gift.

"Well, I wanted to" Percy shrugged and blushed. Joe was an older man with a bristly mustache and a kind heart. He had taken Percy in when he was pretty much broke and Percy would forever be grateful to him for that.

"I haven´t even gotten to my shopping yet." Joe laughed. Percy smiled and shrugged slightly and watched as Leo swaggered in, half drunk, per usual. He was wearing a white, stained, wife beater and skinny jeans that could have belonged to a fifteen year old.

"Hey, Pa. Could I give that bottle of Blue Nun you got from Cousin Ornella to my probation officer?" he asked, flipping his ridiculously luscious locks. Percy smiled to himself. Leo was a ridiculous flirt but Percy still enjoyed his company.

"Do you see we´ve got some company?" Joe admonished, "Say hello."

"Hello, Percy. Nice, uh..." Leo surveyed Percy, standing there at the doorway in a giant, moth eaten sweater and baggy cargo pants. "Sweater." Leo finished lamely.  
"Thank you." Percy smiled and tried to duck out before Leo could make a move on him.

"It´s over there." Joe said, pointing to the bottle. Leo went to the cabinet, bending over and revealing his plumber's crack. Joe followed Percy to the doorway, shaking his head. "Percy, you´re a nice boy. Joe Jr.´s still single." Joe said pointedly as he opened the door for him.

"Yeah, it´s a shocker." Percy said laughingly, eyeing Leo’s crack.

XXX  
"What do you have?" the hot dog vender asked Percy as he stood there counting out bills.

"Oh, the usual." Percy had to push his baggy sleeves off his hand to get better access to his money.

"What´s that?" the vender snapped.

"Mustard. Coke." Percy sighed grumpily. He'd been going there every day; the least the vendor could do is remember him.

"Percy! Percy, Percy, Percy!" Percy turned to see his boss coming up to him joyfully.

"Hi, Jason."

"I´m glad to find you here." Jason smiled. Percy raised an eyebrow skeptically.

"I was hoping you´d find me in Bermuda." Percy snarked, paying for his hot dog and turning to his boss, sipping his coke.

"Bermuda? Oh, that´s good. I am recommending you for Employee of the Month." He smiled at Percy before turning to the vendor. "The usual."

" Really? I didn´t know there was an employee of the month." Percy said, scowling at the vendor who handed Jason his food with no fuss.

"Oh, yeah." Jason said, pulling open a paper and reading out loud "'Supervisor Jason Grace nominates Percy Jackson for Employee of the Month. Percy is never tardy, always works holidays...even if he has worked the previous holiday. Just because he worked Thanksgiving, Percy is willing to work Christmas too?'" Jason asked looking up from his paper hopefully.

"Jason, I´m not working Christmas." Percy scowled, walking off.

"Ah, you´ll get a nice plaque with the mayor´s stamp on it" Jason smiled, speed walking after him.

"I didn´t vote."

"You get to ride on a float St. Paddy´s day."

"I hate parades." Percy scowled.

"Did I mention extra holiday pay?" Percy scowled, Jason knew how much he needed the money.  
"I hate you." Percy griped, taking a bite of his hot dog.

"Percy. Look, Travis is sick and Katie can´t switch because she´s got some big family thing. And I promised my kids I´d be there for them this year."  
"It stinks, Jason."

"I know it isn´t fair, and I can´t make you do it. But, Percy, you´re the only one—"  
"Without family." Percy grumbled.

XXX  
Percy sat at the booth at the train station and grumbled to himself, taking token after token. This was by far one of his worst Christmas' in existence. "Hi." A female voice said and Percy looked up to see his black haired beauty walking through the turnstiles and towards the platform. He gaped at her in complete and utter shock.

"Nice coat. Merry Christmas to you too. You´re beautiful.Will you marry me? I love you." Percy said quietly as he watched the woman stand there, impatiently waiting for the train. Her hair was done up in a nice ballerina bun with a few expert strands twisting out. She wore a black dress and a pink pea coat and her sparkly heels tapped impatiently against the cement. Where was she going? Was she going to work or to see family?

"Yo!" Percy watched as a couple of kids approached her.

"Hey!" One called out, crowding her against the edge of the platform.

"Nice coat." Another jeered.

"It´s Christmas." The first pointed out uselessly.

"Look, I don´t want any trouble." The woman said warily as the boys tried to take her purse and her coat.  
"Oh!" her heel slipped and she fell backwards onto the rails.

"Shit!"

"Let´s go! Let´s go! Let´s go!" the kids shouted, running away as Percy ran towards the woman and jumped onto the rails.

"Somebody help me, please! Miss? Miss? Miss? Are you okay? Can, can you get up? God, Miss, this is not good." Percy patted the unconscious woman's cheek. "Oh, god, miss, um, can you-Are you breathing? Oh, god, you smell good!" Percy babbled as he checked her wrist for a pulse. Percy was starting to panic as people called for the police and the sound of the train was getting closer and closer. "Please wake up. Please. Please. Oh, god. Can you wake up? Can you hear me? Um-Oh, god! Wake up! Somebody help me please! Miss? Miss! There´s a train coming and it´s fast. It´s an express! Oh, god!" Percy grabbed the woman and heaved her and himself out of the tracks with all of his might.

Everything after that was a daze. There were police and ambulance and a lot of questions. Percy made his way to the hospital in a panic; he had to know if the woman was alright. He tried to get in to see her but he didn't even know her name, how could he; they'd never even spoken.

"I was going to marry her." Percy whispered to himself. A cute nurse overheard him and ushered him into the woman's room. "Everything is gonna be okay. I know it." Percy whispered to the sleeping beauty as he stood by her bedside.

"It´s gonna be fine." The nurse, Zoe smiled and patted Percy's arm and went to stand in the hall.

"Excuse me. Is that the man that saved her life?" an officer approached asked the nurse.

"Yeah."

"Whoa." Officer Lance eyed Percy appreciatively. The baggy clothes and constant fiddling couldn't hide Percy's strange, ethereal beauty.

"It gets even better than that. She´s his fiancée." The nurse gushed. She and the officer exchanged glances before the officer turned towards Percy.

"Excuse me, Sir I´m sorry, but I need to ask you a few questions." Percy looked up from the woman's sleeping form and turned towards him.

"O-Okay." He was still pretty shaken up.

"Officer, may I interrupt you?" a doctor asked, appearing out of nowhere.

"Oh, sure. I´ll be right over there." Officer Lance told Percy before going to the hall to flirt with the nurse again.  
"Thank you. Thank you. I´m Dr. Rubin." The balding man introduced himself to Percy.

"Hi, I´m Percy."

"Don´t tell me about passes!" a raven woman screeched from the hallway. Percy and the doctor turned to see a throng of people rushing through the halls.

"Where the hell is he?" an old, grey haired man with a stern face, all but shouted.

"Dad, don´t embarrass me." A Brown haired, teenage girl blushed and looked around, horrified as they entered the comatose woman's room.

"Ooh, she´s so pale. My god!" a little old lady fanned herself and stared at the brunette's prone form.

"What is this?" The officer asked, coming into the room.

"This is my daughter. How is she?" The raven woman cried.

"How depressing!" the old woman murmured, bending over and pulling up the girl's eyelid.

"You can´t come bursting into this unit!" the doctor said, appalled.

"She´ll be all right, right?" the man, who must be her father, demanded. "Right?"

"What happened?" the woman's younger sister asked.

"What´s going on?" another older man, with long, wavy white hair asked.

"She´s in a coma." The doctor explained.

"On Christmas day." The grandmother fanned herself again.

"Jesus!" the mother cursed.

"Her vital signs are strong. Her brain waves are good." The doctor explained to the parents. Percy eyed the throng that was this family in a mix of growing horror and admiration.

"Brain waves." Someone muttered sarcastically.

"I think she´s gonna get through this." The doctor finished.

"Are you a specialist?" the white haired gentleman asked.

"How did this happen?" the mother demanded.

"Um, she was pushed from the platform at the train station." Percy spoke up for the first time. Seven heads turned towards him simultaneously. Percy gulped audibly.

"Who´s he?" the raven accused.

"He´s her fiancée." The police officer said.

"Her fiancée?" five voices cried in shock.

"Yeah." Percy did an awkward wave, fiddling with his sleeve, wondering how he had ever gotten into this mess.

"Bianca´s fiancée?" her father asked his wife. Percy sighed in relief, finally having a name to put with the sleeping woman.

"Bianca´s engaged?" the mother asked. "She would´ve told us, right?" she screeched

"Now, please. Please." The doctor began, trying to get some semblance of order.

"She should´ve told us." The girl said loudly.

"Maybe she was busy." The grandmother said, poking Bianca’s cheek.

"Too busy to tell her own mother she´s getting married?"

"No, no, no, don´t yell at her." the dad defended

"I´m not yelling at her. If only Nico were here." The mother fanned herself this time.

"Grandma?" the girl asked, reaching out to her grandmother who was clutching her heart and breathing heavily.

"Is she okay?" Percy asked the mother.

"She´s got a little heart problem. She´s had three attacks already."

"They weren´t attacks. They were episodes." The little old lady snapped defensively.

"Oh, geez!" the father rolled his eyes and Percy grinned. "Nothing wrong with her hearing." He muttered. Percy snorted and heads turned to look at him again, most of them scowling. "Excuse me, Doctor. What is he doing in here?" the father scowled.

"Hey, buddy. He saved her life." The police officer snapped.

"You saved her life?" Her mother gasped.

"Yeah, yeah, but, I—" Percy began, blushing at their scrutiny.

"I thought she was pushed off a train platform." The man frowned.

"He jumped on the tracks." The officer explained.

"You jumped on the tracks?" this time the father was incredulous.

"Yeah." Percy gulped, withering under the man's gaze.

"Doctor, it´s supposed to be family only." The man complained.

"He is family." The old woman smiled kindly.

"He´s the fiancée, you idiot!" the mother hit her husband on the back of the head. Percy wondered if this is what it was like to have a family, everyone always talking over each other.

"Okay, look, I-I´m sorry. You, you don´t understand—" he began, dying to get away from this madness, edging towards the door.

"I´m awfully sorry. We haven´t seen her for a long time, so we didn´t know. I always wanted her to find a nice boy. I´m so glad she found you." The mother hugged Percy tightly and he froze in shock, never having been hugged by a mother before. The rest of the family swarmed Percy in a group hug and he stared at the police officer, silently begging for help.

As soon as Bianca’s family let Percy have five minutes to himself he was in the halls and cornering the nurse, Zoe. Zoe was a cute girl and Percy instantly wanted to be friends with her but he had to do something else first.

"What?" Zoe asked pleasantly.

"Why did you say that? I´m not her fiancée."

"Say what?" Zoe gasped. "Why did you tell me that you were?"

"I´m not engaged. I´ve never even spoken to the girl." Percy said glanced around, panicked.

"What? Well, down- downstairs you said, you said you were gonna marry her."

"Ah, fuck, I was talking to myself." Percy blushed, embarrassed.

"Well, next time you talk to yourself, tell yourself you´re single and end the conversation."

"What am I gonna do?" Percy asked, panicked and slightly insulted.

"I don´t know." Zoe shrugged a full body shrug.

"She held me so tight. I-I- You know, I couldn´t- I couldn´t tell her."

"I know." Zoe smiled sadly. They stared at each other for a moment before the white haired gentleman that had come in with the family approached.  
"Excuse me, nurse. Is there a pharmacy in the hospital?"

"Uh, what, what do you need?" Zoe tucked a strand of her curly hair behind her ear.

"Demeter. She wants, uh, nitroglycerin."

"Oh, for her heart problem?" Zoe asked kindly.

"Problem? Problems!" the man snorted. And turned to Percy. "You know something´, I think you saved her life. In fact, I think you saved the whole family. Bless you." Percy blushed furiously and Zoe interfered.

"Why don´t you come with me. I´ll take you down there."

XXX  
"So, tell us how you met Bianca?" Demeter asked later that day in the waiting room, fanning herself again.

"Ma, he doesn´t wanna talk about that now, okay?" Persephone, Bianca’s mother, muttered.

"Why not? We could all use a nice story."

"How do you know it was nice?" Hades, the father asked.

"Of course it was nice. Why shouldn´t it be nice?"

"What about that other girl? What´s her name? The one she met in the bar?" Hades asked his white haired friend.

"What´s that got to do with the price of eggs?" Demeter asked and Percy blinked in shock, wondering what the heck was going on. He hadn't known that Bianca was a lesbian. But then again the family didn't seem at all surprised that Bianca was 'engaged' to him. So perhaps she was bi?

"Thalia Bartlett Bacon." The white haired man laughed.

"Chiron." Persephone chided

"All l know is she was pretty high and mighty for someone named after breakfast meat." Percy snorted again and buried his face in his infinity scarf.

"Well, she has a nice boy now." Demeter smiled warmly at Percy.

"So, did you steal her from Thalia?" Bianca’s little sister Hazel asked.

"I bet it was love at first sight. Right?" Demeter asked. "I have a sense about these things."

"Demeter, let him tell it." Persephone sighed.

"He is telling it. I bet that she picked you up in that fancy car of hers. What was it about her that, you know, that first struck you?"

"It was her, uh, smile." Percy spoke for the first time in a half hour of being with this family.

"They´re caps. Six hundred bucks a tooth." Hades grumbled.

"Shh." Persephone waved at him absently, her attention rapt on Percy.

"Well, um-We saw each other, and, um...she, uh, smiled. And-And l knew that... my life would never be the same." The DiAngelo family cooed and Percy blushed.

XXX  
"So-Tomorrow night, 8:00." Leo said, standing in the stairwell in his patent wife beater and skinnies.

"What?" Percy smiled at him bemused and walked up the stairs towards his door.

"I got Ice Capades. I know a guy." Percy rolled his eyes and slammed the door in Leo’s face. He was tired from the long day at the hospital. He sat at his table and poured BlackJack his food and sighed. He stood up, pulled on his boots, giant leather jacket and scarf and headed towards the hospital a second time that day.

"Huh. Hi." Percy sighed and sat next to Bianca’s bedside later that night. "Um- Bet you´re wondering what I´m doing here in the middle of the night, huh? Well, I-I thought I should introduce myself. My name´s Percy. Percy James Jackson. I think you should know your family thinks we´re engaged. Never been engaged before. This is all very sudden for me." Percy laughed at his own stupid joke and fiddled with his holey sweatshirt. "Um-What, what I really came here, uh, to tell you was that, um...I didn´t, I didn´t mean for this to happen. I don´t know what to do. I mean, if, if, you were awake, I wouldn´t be in this mess. Oh, god. Not that I´m blaming you. Sorry." God now he sounded like Zoe, who he found out had a penchant for rambling and stuttering that seemed contagious.

"I´s just that, you know, when I was, when I was a kid, I always imagined what I would be like or where I would be or what I would have when I got older. And, you know, it was the normal stuff. You know, I´d have a house and family and things like that. Not- You know, not that I´m, I´m complaining or anything. ´Cause, you know, I have, I have, I have a cat. I have an apartment, um-Sole possession of the remote control. That´s very important. It´s just...I never met anybody that I could laugh with, you know? Do you believe in love at first sight? Nah, I bet you don´t. You´re probably too sensible for that."

"Or have you ever like seen somebody and, and you knew that if only that person really knew you they would, well, of course, dump the perfect model that they were with and, and realize that you were the one that they wanted to just grow old with." Percy sighed remembering his last boyfriend. "Have you ever fallen in love with somebody you haven´t even talked to? Have you ever been so alone you spend the night confusing a woman in a coma?" Percy sighed and stared out the window at the night sky, feeling utterly alone. He sighed again, hating how normal the feeling was.

Chiron stood at the doorway watching the sad boy poor his heart out to Bianca. Percy deserved better than Bianca that was for sure. Chiron loved the girl but she was crazy. And now he had learned that Percy and Bianca didn't even know each other at all. Chiron thought that perhaps Percy could be the one to change Bianca into a good woman when she woke up.

XXX  
Percy woke with a crick in his neck and sat up, confused. He looked around and realized he was in Bianca’s hospital room and it was early morning. "Oh, my god." He grabbed his jacket and whirled towards the door just in time to see her family coming in.

"Percy!" Persephone cheered.

"Hi" Percy waved awkwardly

"We didn´t know you were here." Percy shrugged helplessly.

Hi. Were you here all night?" Hades asked, kissing his daughter's forehead. Percy nodded, embarrassed.

"You´re like me. I could always sleep anywhere." Demeter laughed and headed over to sit by her granddaughter.

"And believe me, she has." Chiron chuckled, kissing Percy’s cheek and heading over. Percy jerked backwards in surprise at the affectionate gesture from this stranger.

"Way to go, Gram!" Hazel laughed and walked over to her sister.

"So, how´s Bianca?" Persephone asked, grabbing Percy’s hand.

"Oh, well, she´s got more color." Percy gestured with his floppy sleeve.

"She has some color. Looks like she has some color" Demeter echoed.

"Yeah." Hades grunted, rolling his eyes and sharing a look with his daughter.

"Well, I, I have to go, so it was great to see you guys again." Percy extracted his hand from Persephone’s vice like grip.

"Tell him. Go on, tell him." Peresphone urged her husband as she took her daughter's hand.

"Yeah." Hades grunted again and turned towards Percy. "We didn´t get to, uh, celebrate Christmas, so, uh, it would be nice if you could join us." Percy hadn't expected this at all.

"Oh, um- Oh, I-I-I would love to, but I can´t."

"Nico´s gonna be there." Demeter smiled happily.

"That´s right. You haven´t met Nico yet." Persephone positively beamed. Percy wad beginning to sense that Persephone’s favored this ‘Nico’ over her other children.

"No, not yet." Percy said weekly.

"Oh, he´ll be so happy to meet you."

"So you´ll come tonight?" Hades asked.

"I really shouldn´t because I have to work." Percy muttered weakly.

"Well, look here. Put your phone number and address down there." Hades handed him a sticky note and a pen. "Persephone Will call you and talk you into it."

"Okay." Perce laughed as Persephone nodded furiously and Hazel rolled her eyes at her back.

"And here´s another card for when you change your mind." Hades handed him a card that read ‘DiAngelo and Sons.' "We´re in the estate furniture business. We buy furniture from dead people."

"Okay. All right, well I have it. So, bye. Bye." Percy waved to the family, slightly creeped out by that fact.

"Bye, dear. See you later." Demeter and Persephone called.

"Bye." Percy smiled and walked to the elevators and pressed the call button. He stood at the elevators impatiently tapping his foot and rubbing the crick in his neck. "Sir? Excuse me, Sir." One of the orderlies called.

"What?" Percy snapped crankily as the elevator opened and a brunette woman stepped through. "What is this?" Percy asked as a box was placed into his hands.

"I´m sorry, Mr. DiAngelo. These are your wife´s things."

"She´s not my wife!" Percy stamped his foot angrily.

"I´m sorry. Your fiancée." The man smiled and walked away.

"Uh, you´re Bianca´s fiancée?" the lady that had stepped out of the elevator asked.

"Okay." Percy sighed and hefted the box onto his hip.

"Reyna Clark. Colleague of Bianca´s at Lubel, Parker, Jacobs and Fink."

"I have to go now." Percy gestured towards the elevator.

 

"Oh, she´s a great gal. She´s had a tough year. What, with the accident last month and all." Reyna continued, ignoring Percy altogether.

"Accident?" Percy scowled as she babbled on.

"Well, of course it was an accident! I mean, it wasn´t my- Did she tell you it was my fault? We´re playing racquetball, all right? I carry a pencil! I´m a lawyer! I do that!"

"Okay." Percy blinked not understanding at all. He scowled as the elevator doors closed without him.

"Jesus, what´s she telling—"

XXX  
"So what´s the big deal?" Jason asked, eating his hotdog and filling out some forms.

"What´s the big deal? Jason, they think I´m their future son-in-law." Percy threw himself onto the cement railing of the bridge. "And the grandmother, then she´s got this heart thing. And if I tell her the truth, she´s gonna have a heart attack, and she´s gonna die, and it´s gonna be on my head." He griped, rubbing his face, tiredly.

"Well, then, go along with it." Jason didn't bother looking up from his paper work. "And when Bianca comes out of the coma, the family´ll be so happy they won´t care that you lied to them. They´ll probably even thank you for it."

"Okay. What if she doesn´t come out of this coma?"

"Well, then who´s to know?"

"I don´t know!" Percy sighed, sliding down the railing to sit on the ground and look up at Jason who was sitting at a picnic table, engrossed in his work and food.

"Look, look, Percy. When my mother found out I was getting married to my wife, her intestines exploded. Now, you tell them now—"

"Oh, my god." Percy groaned into his hands.

"You might as well shoot Grandma." Percy groaned loudly and a few seagulls nearby squawked and fluttered away angrily.

XXX  
Percy hopped out of the taxi and gaped at the DiAngelo’s house. It wasn't an estate, but no fucking way was it a house. It was styled in the late Victorian way and Percy couldn't help but gape and clutch harder at the poinsettias he had brought along. "What am I doing?" he whispered to himself. He glanced to the right saw the newspaper delivery boy biff it on a rough patch of ice and he laughed heartily. He felt much better afterwards.

"Percy!" Percy turned to see Chiron approaching.

"Hi, Chiron, hi." Percy used his giant sleeves to wipe tears of mirth from his eyes.

"You made it, huh?"

"Yeah." Percy stuck out his tongue at the boy who cussed at him for laughing.

"How you feel?" Chiron smiled warmly.

"Okay. Okay." Percy said, turning back towards him.

"Come on, keep me company for a while. I don´t like to smoke in the house." He waved his cigar and they walked towards the steps. "You want one?"

"Nah, I'm trying to quit." Percy joked.

"That´s good." Chiron laughed. "Here, sit down. They don´t bother you, do they?" he asked, taking a drag.

"Uh, no, no, I´m fine."

"Did you know that I was Bianca´s godfather?"  
"Really? I-I thought you had to be Catholic for that."

"Hades fudged it over."

"Oh?"

"He donated 50 folding chairs to Father Shea´s bingo night. You know, being a godfather is very important to Catholics. It means you´re practically part of the family."  
"Well, you´re lucky. It´s really important to have family around this time of year." Percy smiled sadly.

"Are you, uh—I mean, are your parents with you?"

"No, no. My, my mom died when I was really young...and, uh, a couple of years ago, my dad got sick... and, uh, we moved from Indiana to Chicago so he could go to a research hospital."

"Research. A medical term for very expensive, huh?" Chiron smiled, sympathetic.

"Yeah. Yeah, exactly." Percy ruffled his hair in exasperation.

"I had to quit school and I started working for the C.T.A. And, um, about a year ago, he decided he had had enough research, and he passed away." Percy sighed. "I was studying medicine. Was gonna be a doctor. Seems ironic now, somehow."

"My wife Alice, of 52 years passed away two years ago, February the 19" Chiron said suddenly.

"I´m sorry." Percy sighed and scrubbed at his eyes again with his sleeve.. "Yeah, it was a rough time for me. But Hades got me through."

"You´re good friends?" Percy smiled, wishing he had friends like that.

"The best! Percy, the DiAngelos, well, they took me in as part of their family. I´d never let anyone hurt them."

 

"Neither would I." Percy said seriously. And he meant it. He loved the DiAngelos as if they were his own family. Though Hades scared him a little bit.  
"I believe you wouldn´t." Chiron nodded his approval and Percy raised a brow in question.

"Percy? You came?" Persephone laughed and opened the front door. Hi, Chiron. Oh, this is great! Hey, come on in, you two. It´s freezin´ out here. Demeter made her eggnog." Chiron helped Percy up; they had all learned very quickly how clumsy Percy was.

"Word to the wise: Drink soda." Chiron chuckled.

"Okay." Percy laughed.

 

"Hades, Mom, look who´s here. Percy came!

"Hi. Hi, Hazel." Percy called as they ushered him into the house.

XXX  
Percy sat on the couch by the lovely Christmas tree, looking through a scrap book full of pictures of Bianca and a raven haired angel of a boy. Percy hoped desperately that that boy wouldn't turn out to be Nico because he looked exactly like Percy's type. If he was Percy knew that he would fall arse over tits for him and a dozen Biancas couldn't' lure him away.

"That´s Bianca on the right." Persephone pointed to a newspaper clipping that proclaimed, 'Local Girl Saves Squirrels.'

"She´s so sweet." Percy smiled.

"Oh, yeah, the squirrels." Hades laughed. "Eggnog everyone." Persephone called handing out the eggnog. Hades and Hazel shared horrified looks and Chiron shuddered. Percy sipped it and gagged. Hazel patted him sympathetically on the back.

"I´m getting my camera." Demeter called. "Come on, everybody. Get close to the tree. Oh, Christmas pictures!"

"Percy, come on." Persephone smiled gesturing to him.

"Come on, Percy." Hades agreed.

"Come on, let´s go. Let´s go." Hazel yanked Percy into their group picture.

"I don´t want I—" Percy blushed and stammered.

"Watch the birdie." Demeter called. Percy looked to her, having no clue what she was talking about. The camera flashed and he blinked bright spots out of his vision, laughing.  
"Oh, Ma, take it again. I blinked." Persephone laughed.

"Well, you´re lucky. I´m blind." Hades gripped. They took one more photo, this time with everyone prepared and then they sat around the living room.  
"I don´t drink anymore." Demeter said when Chiron offered her some wine.

"Oh?" he raised what Percy had affectionately dubbed his eyebrow of doom.

"I don´t drink any less either." Demeter chuckled. They all laughed at her joke and presents were passed around. They had even gotten Percy a sweater that actually fit. It was a nice one, cassimere, and he never wanted to take it off. Hazel had wolf whistled when he pulled off his ratty sweater, revealing a striped tank underneath. The DiAngelos were all surprised at his tattoos but he blushed and stammered and pulled on the new sweater and no one said anything.

XXX  
The front door creaked open around two in the morning, and a tall, well-built raven haired man tip toed in. He brushed snow from his hair and his jacket and hung up his rather expensive coat and scarf, gifts from Bianca. He looked up, smiling to see his little sister racing down the stairs and into his arms.

"Nico!" Hazel giggled jumping into Nico's embrace. "Hey, buddy! Whoa!" she laughed as Nico spun him around.

"Hey." Nico laughed, boomingly. Percy woke with a start and listened to their conversation.

"Shh. Nico. Don´t wake Percy." Hazel smiled and pointed to the living room where Percy was curled up into a ball on the couch, still wearing his new sweater. Nico leaned into the room, holding onto the doorframe.

"Who- Who´s Percy?" Percy internally groaned at how beautiful Nico's voice was.

"Percy´s Bianca´s fiancée."

"No, that´s not Bianca´s fiancée." Percy paled and tensed, hoping against hope that he wouldn't be found out.

"You haven´t met him?"

"No." Nico shook his head and turned to Hazel.

"Well, he´s great. You´re gonna love him."

"You know what, kid, maybe I´ll stay the night." Nico messed up Hazel's hair and started up the stairs, his baby sister trailing him.

"Don´t eat my cereal in the morning."

"Oh, so it´s Hazel´s special cereal?" Nico snickered.

"The last time you took the toy surprise, remember?" Percy smiled warmly into his pillow, wishing he had a family like this.

XXX  
Percy rolled off the couch and onto the bed and cussed vulgarly. He growled to himself and pushed himself into a seating position. Nico was sitting on the stairs reading the morning paper with a cup of coffee. He snorted quietly. Percy grabbed his overlarge sweater and his brown leather jacket and lumbered to the hallway were he shuffled into his shoes.

"Good morning." Nico smiled. Percy squeaked and Nico smiled hugely.

"Oh, god. Oh, shit you scared me." Percy clutched his heart.

"Sorry."

"Um, good morning, Nico." Percy said, pulling on his old sweater and jacket.

"Um, I guess I don´t remember meeting you." Nico smiled sarcastically, titling his head and studying Percy. Hating that how beautiful he found Bianca's fiancée.  
"Well, it´s probably because we´ve never met." Percy quipped.

"That might have something to do with it." Nico smiled, bemused. A horn honked outside and Percy jumped.

"Ooh. Cab. I have to go. I´m really—I'm really late ´cause I have to go. But, um, I—It was nice to meet you, Nico. So, good-bye." Percy started out the door.

"Percy." Nico called after him.

"Okay, look, I know that I—"

"Hey."

"Hmm?"

"Welcome to the family." Nico smiled, his heart warming at the blush that spread across Percy's ridiculously high cheekbones.

"Oh, thank you. Bye." Percy turned and stumbled, his blush reaching his also ridiculously large ears.

XXX  
"We pray that the Lord´s healing presence will be felt by those who are sick, and by their families. Especially Jo-Jo Goleki, Bianca Diangelo, Craig Little and Peggy Dunne. We pray to the Lord. Lord, hear our prayer. O God, You call us to live as one family." The priest recited that Sunday at mass.

"So, who´s this Percy?" Nico asked.

"Save us from the mere, pragmatic views of today." The priest intoned.

"He´s your sister´s fiancée." Hades grunted

"That we may be the proof of Your gentleness."

"You´d think if Bianca were getting married, she would have announced it in the Tribune." Nico scowled.

"We ask this through Christ our Lord."

"We read the Sun Times." Hades replied.

"Amen."

"Amen." The congregation chorused.

"So why did he sneak out this morning?"

"He has a job." Hades scowled back at his son.

"I like Mass better in Latin. It´s nicer when you don´t know what they´re saying." Demeter said wistfully. Nico snorted into his sleeve and Hazel coughed to hide her laugh. Hades and Persephone shared a harried look.

"Did you get the Bourbeau estate?" Hades asked Nico.

"Got it."

"What about Downey´s?"

"Got it."

"Himmelstein´s?"

"Yeah."

"Did you get Van Allan?"

"Himmelstein´s took too long." Nico grunted, looking around the cathedral.

"Aah, for Christ´s sake, Nico" Hades pouted.

"Stop swearing!" Persephone hit the back of Hades's head.

"Look, you´re runnin´ the business now." Hades scowled at his wife and turned toward his son.

"There´s something I´d like to talk to you about." Nico looked at him pointedly.

"Talk about that later, okay?" Hades sighed, turning back to the priest's sermon.

"Talk about it now. He can´t kill you in church." Hazel said leaning into their conversation. Nico scowled at Hazel and his sister shrunk back into the pew. Only Bianca and Hazel knew that Nico was gay and he wanted it to remain that way. And he definitely wasn't telling his father in church! No, Nico had something else on his mind.

"Will you please pipe down?" a man in the pew behind them whispered harshly.

"Hey, be nice, pally. We´re in church." Hades snapped at the man.

"Hey. You´re disrupting the Mass!" the man argued back.

"Who made you the Pope?" Hades growled. Nico snorted again.

"Hades!" Persephone scowled.

"How did Joe Kelly get to be a lector? He takes marijuana." Demeter said to no one in particular. Nico laughed out loud this time.

XXX  
Percy sat on his bed going through Bianca's things that the hospital had given him. He had learned rather a lot about a court case that Bianca had been working on. He pulled out a brown paper bag and dumped its contents onto his duvet. It was a can of fancy feast cat food.

"Oh fuck!" Percy swore jumping off the bed, grabbing the can, Bianca's keys and his jacket and booking it out the door. He smiled and said hello to a couple of his neighbors as he carefully made his way across the ice. He looked up and saw Leo pull a hammer and owner's manual out of his car and cursed. Percy covered his face and scurried away, praying that Leo wouldn't see him.

"Come on, you stupid wing nut!" Leo cussed as he hit his engine with the hammer. "Oh, your mother´s—" Nico pulled his truck up onto the curb and watched the man hammer his engine, bemused for a moment.

"Excuse me? Do you live here?" he asked after a few minutes of the three stooges like humor.

"Live here? I own this place." Leo said, flipping his long hair and surveying Nico like a piece of meat.

"Oh, great. Um-Well, then you would know the man that lives in 201?" Nico asked politely.

"Know him? I´m dating him." Leo smiled salaciously. Nico scowled slightly and let Leo continue speaking. Percy darted into Bianca's building, avoiding the front desk that was swarmed with rich families.

"Hmm. Very clean." Percy scowled as he entered Bianca's apartment. It was very modern in its décor and Percy would have thought it better suited for a bachelor pad, not a bachelorette pad.

"Kitty?" he called, entering the kitchen and opening the disgusting can of cat food. "Kitty? Rich kitty? Come here, mealtime." He called leaning over the counter and looking for the cat. "Kitty, kitty, kitty, kitty. Kitty, kitty, kitty, kitty." He frowned and picked up the cat food and wondered into the dining room. "Kitty? Kitty? Food. Kitty, kitty, kitty, kitty. Come here. Come here. Come on, honey." Percy frowned in confusion, entering the kitchen again.

Nico unlocked Bianca's apartment and looked around for some proof that Bianca and Percy were a real couple. He stopped in the hall outside of the kitchen as he heard Percy calling for a cat. He frowned in confusion, never knowing Bianca to be a cat person.

"Where are you—" Percy scowled pushing open the door into the hallway and hitting someone in the face. Whoever it was that he hit grunted in pain. Percy froze in horror and slowly opened the door.

"Oh, I´m so sorry." He gasped when he saw Nico rubbing his nose.

"Nice shot." Nico laughed

"Oh, um— I´ll get you some ice. I´m sorry. I wasn´t expecting anybody." Percy put the cat food down and opened the door to the freezer and pulled out an ice pack. He turned and held it gently against Nico's face, blushing as he did so.

"Hey, how´d you get in here?" Nico asked, replacing Percy's hand with his own. Immediately missing it when Percy turned and picked up the cat food again.  
"Um—Oh. Uh... key?" Percy said uncertainly, looking around for the cat.

"Key? Oh, you stay here a lot, huh?" Nico asked, hating the jealousy that swelled up in his chest. Percy was his sister's fiancée; he shouldn't be having these feelings.  
"Oh, you know, feed the cat." Percy shrugged nonchalantly, still looking around for the animal.

"Bianca doesn´t have a cat." Nico responded. Percy looked at him in confusion.

"Meow." They turned to see a white Turkish Angora meowing weakly at them.

"Ohh." Nico said in shock  
"Hello. Hello, honey." Percy cooed, picking up the cat and cuddling it to his chest, "Tempest!" he said, reading its name tag. "Hello, Tempest. You must be so hungry." He placed the cat and food on the table. Petting it as it ate hungrily.

"Mm." Nico watched suspiciously. The phone rang and Percy turned and blinked at it before going back to the now purring cat. "Are you gonna get that?" Nico asked, narrowing his eyes at him.

"Uh, no, I'm gonna let the machine get it." Percy shrugged and pulled out a tub of baskin robbins ice cream from the freezer. He rummaged around for a spoon while Nico answered Bianca's phone.

"Hello? It´s for you." He said handing over the phone. Percy scowled over the spoon of ice cream in his mouth and yanked the phone from Nico's grip.

"Hello?" he said over a mouthful of ice cream. He took another spoonful while he listened to the other end, Nico watching him the whole time. Percy would be a liar if he said he wasn't a little turned on by it. "Okay. Bye-bye." Percy hung up and turned toward Nico. "Um, that was the hospital. They say it´s customary for friends and family to come down and give blood." He dropped his spoon into the sink and put the dessert back in the freezer.

"Let´s go together." Nico smiled too brightly. Percy blinked, momentarily dazzled by Nico's pearly whites. He grabbed his jacket and Bianca's keys and headed towards the underground parking lot.

"You know what? I think maybe we should take your truck." Percy said, eyeing the expensive cars, having no clue which one was Bianca's.

"Oh, no. We oughta take Bianca´s car." Nico smiled brightly and Percy was seriously beginning to hate that sarcastic smile.

"Okay." He grumbled looking around the parking lot.

"You know where it´s parked, don´t you?" Nico teased.

"Oh, yeah, I, uh- Yeah." Percy pressed the button on the car keys and the lights on a car a few feet away flickered and beeped.

"Hmm." Nico scowled sliding into the passenger side of the expensive black car.

"Hmm." Percy echoed sarcastically, sliding into the driver's seat and admiring the Italian leather.

XXX  
"Hey, we´ll have to get your picture for the mantle." Nico said as the nurse patched up their arms.

"Of, of me?" Percy balked, looking up from the gauze.

"No, of you and Bianca." Nico laughed.

"I´m not that photogenic." Percy gulped, panicking again.

"I doubt that." Nico eyed him while he was looking down at the bandage. Percy was one inch taller than Nico's six foot one. He was pale and lanky and absolutely gorgeous. Nico wished that he had met Percy before Bianca had. Though perhaps not, Percy may be cheating on his sister after all. Percy wasn't traditionally beautiful but Nico was captivated by him. And his snarky personality and quick retorts were quickly making Nico want him more and more, despite the cheating.

"All right. Now, I want you to sit here and sip this, or you´ll get woozy." The nurse said, handing them each a small paper cup.

"When did you start seeing Bianca?" Nico asked as the nurse wrapped his elbow in gauze.

"September 17th." Percy said, downing the cup in one go and standing up.

"Three months. That´s quick." Nico said, surprised and more than a little envious.

"You have no idea." Percy said warily, grabbing his jacket and walking away.

"That´s fast. That´s a fast engagement." Nico called after him.

"Mister!" The nurse called out in shock as Nico tried to go after Percy.

"I´m fine." Nico grunted.

"Wait, I´m not finished with you!" Percy turned back just in time to see Nico faint. He snickered and headed towards Bianca's room, confident that the nurses would take care of Nico.

"What the hell she got a TV for? She´s in a coma, for Christ´s sake!" Percy smiled as he entered Bianca's room. Hades and Chiron were playing poker while Hazel watched raptly.

"Hades, shh. She might hear you, you know." Persephone scowled, looking up from where she and Demeter were knitting what looked to be ugly Christmas sweaters.

"Then get her a radio." Hades snarked and Percy snorted.

"Maybe she´d like us to sing to her." Demeter said as Nico walked into the room behind Percy.

"Maybe Percy knows her favorite song." Nico challenged.

"Puff, the Magic Dragon." Persephone announced.

"Dragon." Percy said, finishing the song title with her and smiling at Nico tensely.

"Which one of the Three Stooges was Bianca´s favorite?" Nico asked, turning on Percy.

"Curley." Percy said after a moment of thought.

"Curley! Hah!" Nico laughed once, loudly and everyone jumped. "He´s everybody´s favorite."

"No, I like Shemp." Chiron told Hades, placing down his cards.

"Favorite ice cream?" Nico challenged.

"Baskin-Robbins." Percy said, remembering the gallons of it in Bianca's freezer.

"Favorite baseball team?"

"Chicago." Percy guessed.

"Cubs or White Sox?"

"What the heck is going on?" Hazel asked eyeing them.

"Why are you asking him all these questions?" Persephone asked warily.

"Don´t ask me, ask his boyfriend." Nico said loudly.

"That isn´t very funny, you know." Persephone said, clutching her heart.

"Leo. Fusco." Nico declared to his family. Percy choked on saliva.

"Leo? Wife beaters and skinny jeans, Leo?" Percy bubbled out a laugh.

"Mm-hmm, that´s right. Mr. Leo Fusco." Nico raised an eyebrow in a challenge. "He said that you were intimate." Demeter gasped and started fanning herself.

"Yeah, well, he also said he invented aluminum foil. He´s delusional." Percy said, trying to sooth the family.

"He was very lucid when I talked to him." Nico declared.

"Oh, dear. Oh, dear." Demeter fanned herself dramatically.

"Ma, you okay?" Persephone asked her in shock.

"You see what you did?" Hades frowned.

"What did I do?" Nico asked innocently.

"Now, if he wanted to prove it, he´d prove it." Demeter said and heads turned to eye Percy, daring him to say something that only someone who'd had sex with Bianca would know.

"Bianca…" Percy swallowed…"Has a scar on the inside of her thigh up into her…*cough, cough* stuff." Percy whispered weakly.

"No way." Nico paled.

"Way." Percy swallowed. “About a month ago there was an accident and she was playing racquetball and her friend had a pencil in her back pocket."

"Eww!" Hazel squealed, covering her ears.

"Maybe, um—" Persephone looked at Hades.

"No."

"Oh, no!" Demeter gasped excitedly.

"Well, somebody´s gotta look." Persephone murmured.

"Don´t look at me." Chiron balked.

"No." Hades said again.

"Yeah, maybe, uh—"

"It´s not—It´s not my, uh, uh—" Nico panicked, the female genitalia freaked him out normally, no way was he looking at his sister's.

"Okay, I´m her mother." Persephone swallowed and pulled up the blanket.

"Oh, Mom! Eww!" Hazel gaped. Percy blushed and made eye contact with Nico who looked like he was going to be sick. Percy tilted his head and surveyed Nico, beginning to suspect that Nico wasn't as straight as he seemed.

XXX  
Percy sighed and sat in his living room in only his boxers, folding all of his laundry. He scratched idly at the tattoo on his right forearm when he heard a knock on his door.

"Who is it?" he called, getting up and walking towards the door.

"What gives?" Leo's voice echoed through the door. Percy pulled it open and looked at him in exasperation. "You stood me up." Leo held up his hands and pranced into Percy's apartment.

"For what?" Percy smiled slightly, closing the door.

"Our date." Leo threw up his hands again.

"What date?" Percy laughed.

"To the Ice Capades. I had to eat your ticket."

"I never said I would go on a date with you." Percy chuckled.

"Yes you did. Yes you did!"

"No, I didn´t. No, I didn´t!" Percy shot back.

"Did too! Did! Did!"

"Didn´t! Didn´t! Didn´t!" they paused in their childish argument when there was a knock at the door. "Who is it?" Percy called.

"Percy, it´s Chiron." Was his reply.

"Oh, my god." Percy croaked, grabbing Leo and pushing him towards his room.

"What, are ya two-timin´ me?" Leo frowned, hurt.

"I´m not two-timing. I never one-timed." Percy growled.

"Hey, I´ll fight the guy." Leo threw up his fists as if to prove his point.

"Hey, get in the closet." Percy pushed him hard into his closet. "Not a word."

"Nice panties." Leo smirked picking up a set of black lacey panties that Percy hadn't worn once in his life. He promises. Percy snatched the underwear away from Leo, slammed the door and rushed to open the door for Chiron.

"Hey." Percy said, waving his hand that held the panties and then blushing and bringing his arm back down.

"I like boxer shorts, but, uh, I´ll try these, eh—" Chiron teased.

"Sorry." Percy blushed, tossing the panties into his living room. A loud thump came from Percy's closet and he winced.

"Have you got company?"

"No. TV. lt´s on... next door."

"Oh."

"Um... you, uh, want some coffee or tea or something?" Percy asked letting Chiron in and closing the door.

No, no. Not a thing. Percy, there´s something you should know." Percy felt dread growing in his stomach.

"What?" he gasped.

"Well, the night you visited Bianca, I was outside the door. I know the truth." Percy paled and collapsed onto a kitchen chair.

"Sorry, Chiron. You now, you do- You don´t have to worry, ´cause I´m gonna tell them everything."

"Don´t tell them a thing. Remember the day you said you´d- you´d never do anything to hurt the family?"

"Yeah?"

"Well, since they met you, they figure they have Bianca back. Now, if you tell them the truth, eh, it´ll take her away again. They need you, Percy. Just like you need them. Now, look, I know you´re a good lad. And I know you´ll do the right thing."

"Thank you."

"Yeah. Yes, you will." Chiron turned to go. "Oh-Oh, oh, by the way, how did you know about the—he waved a hand vaguely in front of his crotch. "Bianca with the, uh—the scar." 

Percy made a face and Chiron nodded. "You know something? I don´t wanna know." He smiled and left.

"Ooh!" Leo grunted.

"Oh, god! What´re you—" Percy shouted yanking open the closet door to find Leo sitting on the floor and holding one of Percy's ex-girlfriend Annabeth’s high-heels.

" What—" Leo looked up in shock.

"What are you doing?" Percy gaped.

"I slipped." Leo murmured.

"You´re trying on my shoes?" Percy shrieked.

"No! When I fell, my foot went like that, right into the shoe." He mimicked the gesture. There was another knock on the door and Percy growled.

"Who is it?" he shouted.

"It´s me, Nico DiAngelo." His voice was muffled but it still sounded like and angel. Percy groaned.

"My god, doesn´t anybody use a phone anymore?" he snarled, stalking towards the door.

"I do." Leo called.

"I´m not talking about 900 numbers." Percy snapped.

"Who told?" Leo gaped. Percy yanked open the door and leveled his glare at Nico who was gaping at Percy. Percy realized that he was practically naked but he couldn't find it in him to care.

"Hi. So, more questions?" He sighed rubbing his right shoulder. Nico's gaze followed his hand and lingered on the tattoo there.

"No, I have an engagement present for you." Nico mumbled awkwardly, looking at all of Percy's other tattoos.

"Uh, you really shouldn´t have." Percy did blush this time.

"I didn´t. It´s from my parents." Nico shrugged.

"Oh." Percy mumbled.

"It´s furniture. You want me to bring it up?" Percy looked around his apartment, looking to see if anything would fit. "Hey, was that Chiron I saw leaving?" Nico asked. Percy nodded and grabbed a pair of jeans, shucking them on just as a loud thump came from his bedroom. He scowled in Leo's general direction. "What´s that?" Nico asked, peering around Percy's apartment.

" Cat." Percy grumbled, grabbing a tank top and his leather jacket.

"Big cat." Nico smiled, impressed.

"Um, I th- I think y- I think you should, um, bring it to, uh, t- bring it to Bianca´s apartment." Percy stuttered, cursing Nico's ability to shut off his higher brain functions.

"You don´t know what it is." Nico smiled widely.

"Well, you know, anything would look nicer in Bianca´s apartment." Another thump came from Percy's closet and he curse Leo to the deepest pits of Hades. "You know what? I´ll come with you." Percy pulled on his tank top and followed Nico out into the cold. Nico helped Percy into the moving truck, both of them blushing profusely.

"You know what? I think you parked too close to the other car." Percy said when he got out of the truck in front of Bianca's apartment.

"Had to. We gotta unload the furniture." Nico smiled and unlocked the back of the truck. "Ready for your surprise?" Percy nodded. Nico opened the truck and Percy's eyes fell onto a nice cedar rocking chair.

"Oh, that is great. That is so great." He smiled, hoping into the truck to run his long, white fingers over the wood.

"You like that?" Nico smiled, pleased.

"Yeah." Percy smiled up at him.

"Too bad. Hades bought you the love seat." Nico laughed, pointing to a horrific blue loveseat with pink roses.

"Oh, I´m sorry." Percy said frowning at the couch in disgust.

"Don´t be. I made this." Nico said, placing a hand on the back of the rocking chair.

"This?" Percy turned back to look at the chair. "No, you didn´t."

"Shocking, isn´t it?" Nico laughed.

"Can I sit in it?" Percy smiled hugely.

"Rock out." Nico shrugged genially. Percy plopped into the chair and rocked a little bit.

"My god, this is perfect. You should go into business or something." He said, rocking back and forth.

"Well, then it gets tricky." Nico shrugged and shoved his hands into his pockets. Percy leaned back and looked over the back of the chair, exposing his gloriously pale neck.  
"Oh, yeah, working with your dad and everything, right?" Percy asked.

"The business is called DiAngelo and Sons, I quit and it becomes DiAngelo and Son. And well Hazel's only fourteen, he can't really do much." Percy nodded and they got to work bringing the hideous sofa up to Bianca's apartment.

"Let´s take a second here and unlock the doors off—" Nico said as they wheeled the couch towards the main doors, heading towards the handicap sign.  
"No-No, I got it, I got it." Percy laughed opening the door.

"Oh. - See? Here we go." He leaned against one door with his ass and held the other open with his arms, creating an arch over the entryway.

"Oh, this technique." Nico laughed, throwing back his head. "I´s always very, very, very modern technique this way." Nico pushed the couch through and Percy grabbed it and wheeled it towards the elevator as the bellhop approached Nico.

"E-Excuse me, uh, sir, what apartment?"

"Uh, 37 G." Nico said amiably.

"Well, sir, I´m sorry, but guests have to be announced, ya know?"

"Well, I´m with him. I´m helping him." Nico gestured towards Percy who stumbled and face planted onto the couch.

"So?" the man shrugged.

"You don´t know him?" Nico frowned, his doubts about Percy resurfacing.

"No. Bu-But I´m new here." The man stammered.

"Oh, well, he´s Bianca DiAngelo´s fiancée in 37 G." Nico smiled as Percy tried to man handle the couch into the elevator.

"Ohh! Oh, yeah. They told me about him, sir. He´s scary."

"Tell me about it." Nico laughed, following Percy inside.

"Ooh! - Be careful." Percy laughed as they tried to get the sofa into Bianca's apartment.

"Uh, maybe we should, uh, angle it a little bit." Nico said looking over Percy's shoulder into the living room.

"Um... I think it´s wedged." Percy bit his lip and smiled at Nico causing butterflies to swarm in Nico's stomach.

"Why don´t you step back for a little bit? I´m gonna try an old trick."

"What´s-What´s the trick?" Percy asked, stepping back and folding his arms over his scrawny chest.

"Push it really hard." Nico laughed and ducked down, pushing against the loveseat.

" Okay, okay, push." Percy called after a moment.

"I did." Nico grunted, standing up.

"Do you want me to help you now?" Percy laughed.

"All right, a little help would be good." Percy grabbed his end of the sofa and pulled while Nico pushed. "One, two, three-yah!" the couch burst through the door, taking part of the frame with it. Percy stumbled from the shock and hit one of Bianca's vases causing it to shatter against the white carpet. Nico leaned over Percy's shoulder to look at the growing blue stain.

"I think the sofa should go right there." Nico laughed. Percy smiled at him and they cleaned up the mess as much as they could before depositing the sofa on top of it. Percy pulled off his jacket and collapsed on top of the couch and Nico collapsed next to him, throwing his arms around the back of the couch, behind them.

"This isn't a very comfortable couch." Percy grouched. Nico laughed and his arm slipped down, his hand brushing Percy's collarbone. Percy shuddered and Nico quickly retracted his arm. Percy blushed, hating how much he longed for the feel of Nico's calloused fingers against his skin. Nico blushed and looked away, longing to touch his sister's fiancée. Percy stole a tub of ice cream and a spoon and they took turns taking bites as they made their way down to Nico's moving van.

"Oh, no! No, no, no, look at this! Idiot just blocked me in." Nico frowned at the car behind his truck.

"But I told you not to park that close." Percy laughed, sucking on the spoon.

"Aaah! Hey, check the meter. See what time it is."

"Um, it´s six o´clock. They can pretty much stay here all night if they wanted to." Percy shrugged, taking another bit of the daiquiri ice, ice cream.

"All night, huh?" Nico scowled at the offending car.

"Um, good night." Percy waved his spoon and started off in the opposite direction.

"You just gonna leave me here with the truck?" Nico called after him.

"Basically, yeah." Percy laughed, taking another bite.

"Well, maybe I oughta walk you back." Nico said, catching up to Percy.

"What for?" Percy asked handing him the spoon.

"For protection." Nico said, scooping out a huge helping and shoving it into his mouth.

"Oh, no, I´m fine. I´m okay." Percy blushed, watching Nico lick the spoon.

"For me. I don´t want to be here by myself." Nico said around a mouthful of blue ice cream. "This is Chicago." Percy blushed and accepted the spoon when Nico offered it.

"You look cold." Nico said as they crossed the bridge where Percy usually got his lunch.

"Hmm?" Percy asked around the spoon.

"You look cold."

"Probably because I am cold." Percy smiled and handed over the spoon. "How about you?"

"This jacket´s reversible." Nico laughed. "I´m wearing the warm side now."

"Oh, I see!" Percy laughed.

"You need a better coat." Nico tugged on the worn through leather.

"What? This was my dad´s." Percy frowned.

"Ahh, then he´s probably freezing." Nico laughed.

"He passed away."

"Ah. Shit, fuck. Sorry."

"It´s not your fault." Percy laughed. "Passed away last year. I don´t even remember my mom, so—"

"What was he like?"

"He was a lot like me. Dark hair, clumsy feet, foul language."

" What do you remember most about him?" Nico smiled amiably at Percy, feeling his affection growing ever more.

"Oh-ho, that. Okay." Percy laughed. "Um, well—He liked maps."

"Yeah, I live by maps. My truck´s filled with them." Nico smiled.

"He used to hear of a place on the TV, and we would pull out the atlas, we´d find where it was. We´d route out this route, get there."

"If there were one place in the world where you´d go, where—"

"Florence." Percy interrupted, beaming at Nico, stealing the spoon and the last of the ice cream.

"Italy, ooh. I haven´t delivered any furniture to Florence yet, but I´m told it´s nice."

"Yeah." Percy sighed wistfully.

"I take it you´ve never been there."

"Well, you know, the El doesn´t exactly make it all the way to Florence, so—" Percy shrugged. "Oh, but l do have...my passport." Percy whipped it out of his coat pocket.

"You have your passport!" Nico laughed grabbing it while Percy threw away the ice cream tub.

"Yes, I do!" Percy laughed, rubbing his red nose on his sleeve.

"With you?" Nico smiled up at him.

"Yes. Well, just in case I need to quickly leave the country," Percy blushed.

"That´s perfect. That´s great. Oh, you´re right." Nico opened it up and looked at his photo. "You´re not very photogenic at all." Percy scowled at him and ripped it out of his hands. "Just joking. There aren´t any stamps in that."

"Yeah, well, I haven´t gone anywhere yet. But, you now, I´m planning a trip to Florence really soon, so, you know, I´ll go."

"That´ll make your dad very proud." Nico smiled as Percy tucked Bianca's spoon into his back pocket.

"Yeah. You know, in a very small way, you kind of remind me of him a little bit." Percy shrugged against Nico with his shoulder.

"I see. So, he was a classy guy, always a gentleman." Nico laughed.

"A working man who—Who just stepped in dog shit." Percy laughed.

" Ohh! Fuck." Nico scowled, wiping his foot against the pavement.

"That´s, now that´s classy. That´s classy!" Percy laughed.

"All right, tell me more. Where´d you grow up."

"God, you´ve just become Mr. Chatty this evening." Percy laughed, wishing the butterflies would go away but at the same time, hoping they'd stay.

"Fact of the matter is, I´m about to start shivering, and making conversation keeps my face from freezing." Percy laughed at him and placed his long, sleeve covered hands on Nico's cheeks to warm him for a moment. Nico and Percy stared into each other's eyes, the tension growing thicker and thicker between them. Percy coughed and pulled back.

"Thank you. I had, um, I had a good time." Percy said.

"Oh, mm." Nico nodded and Percy started walking towards his apartment complex.

"S-S-Slippery here. Come on."

" Got this far. I´ll take you the rest of the way." Nico said, following him.

"Well, you gotta watch out. A little icy."

"So, um, you gonna go see Bianca tomorrow?"

"Oh. Whoa-oa-oa! Whoa!" Percy slipped a little and regained his footing.

"Whoa." Nico shouted, grabbing Percy from behind as he slipped. "All right—" He panted into Percy's ear as he steadied himself.

"Do not take me with you!" Percy laughed enthusiastically and Nico swallowed thickly, watching Percy's adam's apple bob up and down.

"No, it´s all right. It´s not too bad, yeah." Nico said, wrapping his arms around Percy's waist.

"You got it?" Percy asked. "You got it? Okay."

"Yeah." Nico groaned as they started moving again.

"There we go." Percy said as they made it a few inches without slipping.

"Okay!"

"All right. Are ya all right?"

"This is—" Nico's feet splayed out it two different directions. "Oh—Mm." he groaned, shoving his face into Percy's back as they stopped slipping.

"Mm." Percy grunted. "All right?" Percy asked as Nico stood up carefully.

"Yeah."

"I think we´re all right now."

\- Okay?" they started moving again.

"It's just over this way," Percy let go of Nico and pointed and his feet when out from under him. He fell against Nico, bringing them both down onto the ice. " Ow! Ohh! - What was that?" Percy asked as a rip filled the air.

"Was that my pants or my muscles?" Nico laughed dropping his head onto Percy's chest. Percy lifted his head and looked down.

"It was your pants." Percy laughed. "I like your red briefs." Nico slapped his thigh.

"Ow!"

"Give me your hand. Give me your hand." Nico said, standing and offering his arm to Percy.

"Whoa-ho!" Percy shouted as Nico pulled him onto his feet in one movement.

"Okay. Come on! You have an extra pair of pants in your apartment?" Nico asked as they their way to the door.

"If you fit into my pants, I will kill myself." Percy threatened.

"You're not that much smaller than me Percy." Nico laughed.

"You don´t have to follow me." Percy glanced back.

"No, you block the wind." Nico laughed.

"I might have some pants you can wear." Percy handed him the keys and headed towards his mail box. Nico laughed and practically ran up the stairs. The landlord's door opened and Leo stepped out in his boxers and customary wife beater and a shabby robe.

"All right, Percy, it´s either me or him."

"Him." Percy laughed, skipping up the stairs.

"You don´t have to answer right away." Leo muttered as Percy opened his door and walked in. Nico was sitting in his living room surveying all of his jeans.

"Christ Percy how is your waist this small?" he laughed. Percy shrugged and shucked of his jacket and shoes and headed into the kitchen to make some hot cocoa. "Um…" Percy turned to see Nico holding the lacy black underwear. Percy gulped audibly and they stared at each other for a long uncomfortable moment.

"Before you ask, yes those are mine." Percy said, turning as red as Nico's underpants. Nico swallowed thickly, willing his arousal to go down.

"And you have these because?" he said roughly. Percy groaned; Nico's rough, scratchy voice wad affecting him in ways that no voice should.

"Umm. I'm gay." Percy shrugged awkwardly. Nico frowned in confusion.

"But you're with my sister."

"Well, I'm usually gay." Percy corrected, wishing Nico would just drop the panties. Nico nodded acceptingly and placed the underwear to the side and continued to shift through Percy's jeans. When he found a pair that he thought would fit he changed in the bathroom, quickly taking care of his increasing arousal. When he came back holding his ripped jeans, Percy handed him a coffee cup full of hot chocolate.

"What do you want me to do with these." Nico held up his old jeans, his voice was absolutely wrecked. Percy smiled and wrapped the jeans around Nico's throat.

"Instant scarf." Percy laughed and placed a lid on Nico's cup. Nico laughed with him.

"Well, good night." Nico said, making his way towards Percy's door.

"Night." Percy smiled sadly.

"So I´ll see you when I see you?" he asked, not wanting to go.

"Yeah." Percy watched until Nico was outside before he closed the door. Then he ran to the window and watched Nico walking away, sipping at his Irish cocoa. Nico looked back, waved and then disappeared around the corner. Percy didn't notice that his black panties were gone.

XXX  
"I´m having an affair. I like Nico." Percy declared, throwing himself across Jason's picnic table.

"Who´s Nico?" Jason asked, handing Percy his lunch.

"Bianca´s brother."

"So?"

"So he thinks I´m engaged."

"To who?"

"To Bianca." Percy groused.

" Percy, I really don´t have time for this." Jason sighed, standing up.

" Oh, no, no, no, no, no. You have to tell me what to do." Percy said, grabbing his tie.

"Tell the truth."

"If I tell Nico that I lied to his family, he will never speak to me again. And-And-And Hades and Persephone and Hazel and-and-and Chiron—"

"Chiron? Who´s Chiron?"

"He´s a next-door neighbor. But you know what? Actually, he knows."

"Percy, you´re born into a family. You do not join them like you do the marines." Jason frowned, fixing his tie.

"You have to tell me what to do."

"Pull the plug." Jason smiled at his pun.

"You are sick." Percy frowned, sitting at the table and pulling his lunch toward him.

"I´m sick? You´re cheating on a vegetable." Percy groaned.

XXX  
"Down and dirty." Nico sat by his sister's bedside playing poker with…well with himself. "Are you gonna fold? You´re not gonna fold." He turned over her cards. "Ooh, she is staying in with a pair. Very impressive. Very bold, confident." He placed his own cards down. "Full house. You are unlucky at cards." He sighed as he scooped up the cards. "But lucky in love. ´Member in like, uh, fifth or sixth grade, I was starting to get really good at poker, and, uh, goin´ home with lots of lunch money? I got to know the principal´s office really well. He always used to say to me, ´How come you can´t be more like your sister Bianca?´ Well, you know what? I was all right with that. I had no problems with that because I was proud of you. And I was never envious of anything that you had. Until now."

Hades sighed, thinking about the way Percy had blushed scarlet when he'd seen Nico holding his underwear. The underwear that Nico had stolen. He hoped Percy wouldn't notice or suspect him. "I´ll cut the deck. High card gets Percy." He told his sister, cutting the deck and looking at the results. "All right, we´ll go best out of three."

XXX  
"So, Percy, have you and Bianca decided where you´re gonna go on your honeymoon?" Persephone asked that night at dinner.

"I went to Cuba." Chiron volunteered.

"Ricky Ricardo was Cuban." Demeter said to no one in particular. Percy smiled at Nico.

"Didn´t Bianca look great today?" Persephone asked her husband.

"Oh, that kid." Hades sighed.

"You know, she should have been an actress." Persephone said to Percy conspiratorially.

"She´s tall." Hades nodded.

"All the great ones were tall." Chiron agreed.

"Percy, you think you can find me a nice girl for Nico?" Persephone giggled.

"Oh, Mom, come on." Nico gaped.

"Well, I-I-I-I—I really don´t know Nico´s type, so I´m not one to, um—" Percy blushed.

"I like blondes. Chubby ones." Nico smiled at his mom who smacked his hand and smiled.

"Well, we all know who Percy´s type is." Persephone laughed. Hades and Chiron were having a conversation about tall actresses.

"These mashed potatoes are so creamy." Demeter murmured.

"You like brunettes." Hazel said loudly in Nico's face. Silencing everyone's conversations for a moment as they turned towards Nico, wondering why he would lie. "And men."   
silverware dropped and Nico turned green.

"Nico, what?" Hades asked in shock. The look Nico was giving Hazel was promising swift retribution.

"You like men?" Persephone asked, fanning herself lightly. Demeter looked on with a wicked gleam in her eye. Nico met Percy's eye, directly across from him, panicked and Percy nodded slightly. He stretched out his foot and touched Nico's to comfort him. Nico breathed in through his nose and sighed heavily.

"I'm gay." He said looking at his mother and father.

"Told you." Demeter said to Chiron who pulled out his wallet and paid her twenty dollars. Nico blushed slightly.

"How long have you known?" Persephone asked, worried.

"Since I was twelve." Nico murmured, poking at his mashed potatoes.

"Ten years?" Hades gaped. "And you never said anything?"

"But you went out with all of those girls." Persephone said, confused. Nico's foot twitched and Percy put more pressure on it. Nico smiled at him, grateful.

"You made no secret about your disappointment in Bianca's experimenting with her sexuality. I was already a disappointment. I didn't want to be more of one." Nico ruffled his hair and sighed. Persephone wiped her eyes on her napkin and Hades blinked at Nico in shock.

"Nico you were never a disappointment." Now Nico was wiping his eyes on his napkin.

XXX  
"So if you need any help with history, don´t call me." Percy and Hazel laughed as Nico helped him into his coat.

"Now, remember, honey, if you´re free for New Year´s, we want to see you." Persephone said cheerfully.

"Thank you very much. I had a great time." Percy laughed.

"Us too."

"Thank you. Bye."

"Thanks for coming." They called as Nico started to walk Percy to the taxi.

"Hey, look, you guys. You´re under the mistletoe." Hazel said suddenly. Nico scowled at his sister and looked up at the mistletoe hanging over his and Percy's heads. He looked at Percy who was blushing furiously.

" Kiss him, then." Demeter goaded.

"It´s mistletoe. It´s tradition." Hades said seriously, as if he wasn't getting a kick out of watching his newly out son squirm.

"It´s Christmas." Chiron laughed.

"Come on, idiot. Kiss him." Demeter cheered. Percy and Nico turned towards each other and leaned in for a quick peck. Percy wasn't that much taller than Nico but it was enough that Nico had to tilt his head up a little bit. Their lips met for a fraction of a second but they both felt the sparks.

XXX  
Percy sat in the token booth and sighed to himself, replaying his and Nico's kiss over and over again. His job didn't really take any effort at all. He had to do something to keep himself entertained.

"One token, please." Someone asked in a voice that was way too deep and raspy to be normal. Percy looked up to see Hazel and a teenage boy standing at his window.

"Oh, my god! Hazel! What are you doing here?" he laughed. "Hi. Do you guys wanna- you wanna come through?"

"We can?" Hazel squeaked in her much higher voice that showed all the strain of puberty.

"Yeah, absolutely." Percy ushered them in and hugged Hazel.

"Hey, who´s this?" Katie asked, turning to look at the kids in their booth.

"I´m Hazel. This is Sammy."

"Hi."

" Um, Hazel´s—Hazel´s my, um—" Percy frowned trying to figure out how to explain their relationship.

"Percy´s going to marry my sister Bianca."

"What? Percy, you´re gettin´ married?" katie squealed, hugging Percy.

"Well, it hasn´t really been announced. So it´s a little awkward for me to say anything, and, um— The train. Your—"

"Okay." Hazel smiled.

"The train." Percy gestured over Katie’s shoulder.

"Okay. Uh, I´ll see you later."

"Thank you for coming. It´s nice to meet you, Sammy." Percy smiled.

"I thought you were gay?" Katie frowned. "Is she pregnant?"

"Yes, she's pregnant, Katie." Percy said sarcastically.

"Percy, you´re not tellin´ me what´s goin´ on! You´re not givin´ me details. What´s goin´ on?"

"Okay, Katie. Katie, you have to have sex in order to be pregnant."

"But I thought you were engaged."

" Well, we´re- We´re waiting." Percy muttered.

"Waiting?" Katie raised an eyebrow. "Are you still freaked out about sex with girls because of Annabeth?"

XXX  
"New Year´s Eve hasn´t been the same since Guy Lombardo died." Demeter sighed wistfully watching the new years' countdown.

"I love a clarinet. You know, nobody plays a clarinet anymore." Chiron said, munching on some apple chips.

"Guy Lombardo didn´t play the clarinet." Demeter scowled at him.

"I didn´t say Guy Lombardo played the clarinet." Chiron frowned at her.

"Hey, Pop." Nico said, walking into their living room. "We got the Van Allan estate."

"Hey, way to go. Attaboy!"

"Oh. That´s great." Persephone smiled.

"Congratulations." Chiron grunted, still eyeing Demeter distrustfully.

"Hey, everybody." Hazel said storming in.

"Percy's gay and Bianca's pregnant."

"How did you find out? What do you mean she´s pregnant?" Persephone shrieked.

"How do you know?"

"Where have you been?"

"That´s what Sammy said. We heard it at the token booth today."

"Nico, do you know anything about this?" Hades asked as Nico grabbed his jacket and stormed out.

"Go up to your room."

XXX  
Percy was pulling on his boots when he heard a knock at the door. He sighed, really wishing he could go back to being alone in life.

"Who is it?"

"Leo." Percy winced.

"I´m not here." There was a pause and then.

"I know that trick." Percy sighed and stood up. "Hey, my old man´s got a set of keys."

"That is illegal, and you know it, Leo." Percy scowled opening his door to frown at the man.

"Ta-da!" he said showing her a wreath-thing of flowers. "I told ´em to give me the same ones they use in the winner´s circle at Arlington."

"They´re beautiful." Percy laughed at the horse flowers. "But I can´t accept them."

"I could move in here. I bet you Pop would knock 50 bucks off the rent."

"I have six months left to live." Percy sighed dramatically.

"Aw, you´re just tryin´ to make me feel better." Leo laughed.

"It´s that other guy, isn´t it?"

"What do you mean?"

"I’ve seen the way you look at him."

"What? How do I- How do I look at him?" Percy stuttered.

"Like you just seen your first Trans Am." Leo smiled. "Aw, here, take ´em. You can lay ´em on my coffin."

"Thank you." Percy laughed, giving Leo a hug.

"Are you wearin´ the black panties?" Leo asked, hand sliding down to Percy's ass. Percy pulled back and slapped him. "Ow! I love black underwears." Percy snorted and grabbed the flowers and put them on his kitchen table. He grabbed his coat and skipped out of his apartment and ran into Nico.

"What are you doing here?" Percy asked fidgeting with his sweater sleeves.

"You´re going to a party." Nico pointed to the campaign in Percy's hand.

"Yeah, my friend Celeste is having a party tonight."

"Great. Hey, I´ll drive you."

"Oh, you know what? It´s really not that far. It´s—It´s fine."

"No, no, no. No. Come on, come on." Nico smiled jovially while opening his truck door.

" Okay, but it´s, it´s really not that far." Percy said, hopping in.

"I move a lot of things with this truck." Nico said, walking over to his side of the truck. They rode in silence for a moment.

"So, is, um, everything okay?" Percy asked, uncomfortable.

"Why? Why wouldn´t it be okay?"

"You´re just acting really weird." Percy eyed him speculatively.

"No, no, I´m not being weird."

"Yes, you are."

"No, I´m not being weird. So, what about Bianca?" Nico asked as they approached Katie's door.

"What about Bianca?" Percy asked staring at him.

"Bianca is going to have a lot to deal with when she wakes up." Percy raised an eyebrow just as Katie opened the door.

" Percy! Hi. How are you?" she cooed, taking the campaign. "Hi!" she said to Nico.

"Oh, come on. Come in. Hey, everybody. Percy and his fiancée are here." Jason called out.

" Percy! Hey, how´s it goin´?" someone called.

"Jason, you know Bianca, right?" someone else said.

"Bianca?" Nico looked at Percy, confused.

"I gotta talk to you." Percy muttered. "When I said I was gay I meant, I'm really gay. I've only been with one woman in my life." Jason pulled Percy aside as people thronged Nico.

"Geez, he looks good." Jason said, Katie agreed.

"That´s not Bianca. That´s Nico." Percy scowled.

 

" Uh, who´s Nico again?" Jason blushed.

"Bianca´s brother."

"Bianca´s the guy that´s in a coma."

"Girl, that's in a coma. But yeah."

"So then why did you bring Nico?"

"I didn´t bring Nico. He followed me here."

"So Nico´s the fiancée?"

"No, Bianca." Percy scowled.

"Bianca doesn´t even know you exist."

"I know."

"Percy—"

"Yeah?"

"They have doctors for this kind of thing." Percy scowled at Jason and stomped off and grabbed a cup of eggnog.

"That´s spiked." Nico said in his ear.

"Thank God."  
XXX  
" Wait a minute, will ya? lt´s freezin´!" Nico called, following Percy after he had loudly asked if Percy had gotten his sister pregnant. "Uh, this whole evening did not work out well at all, and, uh—" Percy whirled around and scowled at Nico.

"Oh, and I´m supposed to share some responsibility in that?"

"No. Now— Would you slow down a little bit? Look. It was just a misunderstanding, And on top of the Leo thing—"

" Excuse me?" Percy stopped in front of his apartment complex and placed his hands on his hips.

"It´s nothing." Nico grumbled.

"No, no, no. There´s no ´nothing´ now. What Leo thing?"

"The leaning thing." Nico said as if it explained everything.

"The leaning thing?"

"Yeah."

"Okay. Um—What do you—What do you mean by ´the leaning thing´?" Nico shrugged. "Because he gave me flowers?"

"And then you leaned." Nico blushed.

"And then I leaned." Percy raised an eyebrow and Nico was convinced that Percy was spending too much time with Chiron.

"Yeah."

"Okay. How did l lean when l leaned?" Percy folded his arms and leaned against the building.

"How were you leaning?"

" Yeah."

"It was a lot different than hugging." Nico placed a hand on the wall beside Percy's head. "Hugging´s very different. Hugging, that involves arms and hands, and leaning is whole bodies moving in, like this." Percy gulped. "Leaning involves wanting...and accepting. Leaning—"

"Hey, Percy." They turned to see Leo standing in a throng of partyers with a paper hat on. "Is this guy bothering you?"

"No, no." Percy blushed.

"Are you sure? ´Cause it looks like he´s leaning." Leo scowled at Nico.

"Thank you. See?" Nico said. He was still in Percy's personal space and Percy didn't really mind.

"I´ll be right over here if you need me." Leo called.

"Okay. Thank you very much." Percy called, not looking away from Nico's eyes.

"I know karate." Leo threatened before wandering off.

"Okay. Now—" Nico started.

"All right. What about the other thing?"

"The other thing? The other misunderstanding?"

"Why did you think I got your sister pregnant?"

"Well, Hazel said that she had heard something like that."

" And you believed her?" Percy scowled. Nico realized that Percy was suddenly man but he didn't understand why.

"I didn´t have any reason not to believe her." Nico defended.

"So the only reason your sister would want to marry someone like me is if she was pregnant, right?" Percy growled and Nico suddenly realized why Percy was angry.

"No, no." He tried to fix it.

"Good night." Percy snapped, pushing Nico away and opening up the door and storming up the stairs.

"Fact is, you´re not really Bianca´s type." Nico said, following him in.

"Yeah, Nico? All right, whose type am I?" Percy turned halfway up the stairs, hands on his hips.

" Look, it´s a great idea, you and Bianca. It´s just not obvious to the whole world, that´s all."

"You know what, Nico? I´ve had a really lousy Christmas. You´ve just managed to kill my New Year´s. If you come back on Easter, you can burn down my apartment." Percy snapped turning to go.

"Hey, come on, Percy." Nico grabbed his wrist. Percy turned, angrily.

"What do you want from me, Nico?"

"I want you not to be unhappy."

"And what are you, the happiness guru, Nico? Are you happy? Because I don´t remember you having had a conversation with your father. I mean, you do want to leave the business, don´t you, or is this just like another miscommunication that we are having here?" Percy snarled viciously. This right here is what reminded Nico of his sister. He imaged that Percy and Bianca had horrible fights. Then again, if he and Percy were together they would be horrible too. No. He had to stop thinking about Percy like that.

"What do you know about my family?" Nico snarled back. "Spending a week with them does not make you an expert."

"Spending a lifetime with them hasn´t made you one either."

"Yeah, well, I know that keeping your family happy gets complicated. Would your father be happy knowing you´re sitting in a token booth, planning vacations that you aren´t taking?" Nico immediately regretted his low blow.

"No, he wouldn´t. You´re right." Percy sniffed, wiping his eyes on his one of his giant sweaters that Nico had now realized were Percy's dad's. "But you have no idea what it´s like to be alone." Percy sniffled, opening the door.

"Hey, you have Bianca." Nico reached forward and squeezed Percy's wrist gently, trying to show how sorry he was.

"I don´t have anybody." Percy whimpered. Cries of 'Happy New Year!' echoed from outside and within the halls. "Good night." Percy whispered, sliding into his apartment. Percy shucked off his clothes until he was in his dad's sweater and his boxers and he grabbed BlackJack and curled up on his bed, crying.

XXX  
"Hades, they called me and told me to get down here. What happened?" Hades asked, rushing through the hospital halls.

"She´s awake!" Hades laughed.

"Oh, that—Oh." Percy turned to go but Hades grabbed his arm and pulled him into Bianca's room.

"Boy, will he be glad to see you." Demeter whispered.

"Yeah." All Percy could do was smile and stand with the DiAngelos.

"Bianca? Bianca. Your family´s here, Bianca." The doctor said. Bianca looked around at all of her family members and when her gaze landed on Percy she paused.

"Wh-Who are you?"

"My god." Percy winced. "She´s got amnesia." Bianca's eyes rolled up and she fainted.

XXX  
"Lacunar amnesia is a condition in which memory loss is localized and patchy, limited to isolated events." The doctor droned.

" Selective amnesia?" Hades grumbled.

"Um, I´m sorry. You—" Percy turned towards them. " I need to tell you something that is really important. Bianca and I were never—"

"Pregnant?" Persephone chuckled.

"Huh?"

"We know. Nico called us." Persephone patted Percy's back. Percy's heart ached at the thought of Nico.

"Nico."

"Hey. So she´s come out of it, huh?" Chiron said, sidling up to Percy.

"Oh, I´m so glad you´re here." Percy groaned, rubbing his face, tiredly. The doctor showed up to tell them that Bianca was awake again, just as Nico stumbled out of the elevator.  
"Hey, Nico, I am so glad you´re here." Persephone murmured, wrapping her arm around he son's waist. Nico looked around and saw Percy staring at Chiron in horror. He wanted to go ask but he was ushered into his sister's room.

"Chiron!" Percy screeched as soon as the DiAngelos were gone.

"Now, listen. Let me handle it. I´m too old a friend and too old a person for them to kill. I'll take care of it, all right?"

" Okay." Percy nodded.

"And I´ll do it right now."

"Okay. Come on. Let´s go."

"Right behind you." Percy sighed and stumbled into Bianca's room.

"Hey, you remember him?" Persephone asked as Percy straightened, looking back to see that Chiron was gone.

"Should I?" Bianca frowned.

"Look closely."

"He looks a little familiar. Why?"

"I think it´s coming back." Persephone smiled.

"I think so." Hazel smiled.

"What´s coming back? Tell me. Tell me. What?"

" You have amnesia."

"I do?" Bianca looked appropriately horrified.

"Bianca, you´re engaged" Nico announced.

"To who?"

"To Percy." Nico smiled.

"Percy? Who´s Percy?" Bianca was starting to panic. She started pulling at her long black hair.

"You don´t remember, do you?" Hades asked. Bianca shook her head, scared.

"Excuse me." A nurse came in. "Got some Jell-O for you today."

"Do I like Jell-O?" Bianca turned towards her mother.

" Yum!" Persephone smiled,

"I think she´s had enough excitement for one evening." The nurse shooed them out.

"Hang in there, champ."

"Good night, honey."

"Good night, Mom, Dad."

"All right, we´ll be back. Nico, you too. Come on. Let´s go home." Persephone grabbed her son and he frowned, looking back as they headed towards the exit. He saw Percy corner Chiron and wondered what was going on.

"Chiron, where have you been?"

"What, I´m not allowed to go to the bathroom?" Chiron asked, raising his eyebrow of doom.

"Chiron!" Percy stamped his foot.

"I´m handling it. I will tell them."

"Wen? When? On my golden anniversary?" Percy scowled and stomped off.

"Percy, I´ll tell them!" he called after him.

"You´d better tell them!" Percy called back.

"I said I´d tell them!"

XXX  
Percy opened his door in the middle of the night to see Nico standing there, looking like an absolute mess. A half hour had them sitting on Percy's couch with BlackJack and sipping cocoa.

"Nico, you´ve been really great this week." Percy said sadly.

"Yeah, like, uh, when l accused you of lying to everybody. Or when l accused you of having a relationship with Leo. Or when l thought you knocked up my sister and I announced it to all your friends?" Nico challenged.

"You´ve had a really busy week this week, haven´t you?" Percy laughed. "Look, Nico, I, um— Starting tomorrow, uh, things...are probably gonna be kind of different."  
"Yeah." Nico sighed, thinking that this was Percy trying to keep Nico at a distance.

"I just wanted you to know that you´ve become, uh, a really good friend." Percy blushed and rubbed his neck awkwardly.

"Okay." Nico wished they could be more than friends. "Good friend." He whispered. "Percy,"

"Yeah?"

"I didn´t mean, uh, what I said about you and Bianca. I think you two are gonna make a really terrific couple, and, uh, I´m really glad that you won´t be alone anymore." Nico got up, sliding the grumpy cat to the couch.

"Good-bye." Percy sighed.

"Bye." Nico couldn't resist leaning in and pressing a soft kiss to Percy's forehead.

XXX  
"Nico, is that you?" Hades asked, not looking up from the obituaries.

"Hey, Pop." Nico walked in and kissed his father's forehead. " Brought you some doughnuts."

"You´re a savior." Hades beamed. "Your mother´s got me eatin´ these fat-free bran muffins." He gestured to his hardly touched breakfast. "They taste like plywood." Nico laughed  
"Catchin´ up?" Nico asked, looking at the paper.

"Yeah, it´s been almost a week since I read the obituaries. You know, we missed a lot of good stuff the day after Christmas."

"Been a hell of a week, hasn´t it?" Nico sighed.

"Life is a pain in the ass. I´ll tell ya. You know?" Hades grumbled. "You work hard, try to provide for the family, and then, for one minute, everything´s good. Everyone´s well.   
Everyone´s happy. In—In that one minute, you have peace."

"Pop, this isn´t that minute."

" What do you mean?" Hades looked at him suspiciously.

"You remember that rocking chair I made for Grandma?"

"Are you kidding me? It´s so fancy, she won´t even sit in it." Hades laughed.

"This fancy chair, two months ago I sold three just like it. I´ve sold two dining tables. I got orders for six more."

"That´s a good side business." Hades nodded looking back at the paper.

"This is not a side business. This is... good business." Nico said pointedly. Hades looked up, shocked.

"Wait a second. You don´t want my business?"

" No, I don´t."

" How long have you felt this way?"

"A long time."

"Well, why didn´t you say something sooner? I could´ve sold the whole damn thing to Uncle Zeus for twice its value. I could´ve taken your mother on the cruise with Kathie Lee Gifford."

"You´re not mad at me?" Nico blinked in shock and smiled.

"Are you nuts?" Hades laughed. "Yu are nuts! You wanna make rocking chairs! My son, the gay carpenter." He reached over and ruffled Nico's hair.

"Oh, hey, Mrs. Fletcher finally went, huh?" Nico smiled looking at the obituaries. "Her dining room alone has got to be worth a couple grand."

"Yeah. Well, those McMurphy boys, they were movin´ in before the deed was done. That´s their problem. They´re too pushy."

"Very pushy, yeah." Nico agreed, pulling out a donut.

"We´ll call them next week."

"You´ll call ´em next week." Nico corrected.

"That´s right. I´ll call them next week." Hades smiled.

"Okay."

"Do I get a doughnut?"

XXX  
The DiAngelos gathered around Bianca's bed as she recited her eight grade locker combination and social security code.

"You have to remember Percy." Hazel urged. Bianca shrugged and recited her grade point average.

" You love him. You just... don´t remember him." Persephone sighed.

"Can I talk to Bianca alone?" Chiron asked, walking into her room.

"Everything okay, Chiron?" Hades asked.

"Senior class president, 2008" Bianca muttered.

"I just wanna talk to my goddaughter." Chiron smiled and the DiAngelos filed out. Chiron sat in a chair by Bianca's bedside and smiled at her. "Bianca, I´ve known you since you were born. I´ve been to every major event in your life from Girl Scouts to well, to the day you discovered hair on your privates." Bianca blushed. "You got a good education. You´re very popular with all those friends of yours. You make a nice living. And everybody knows you´re a good-lookin´ kid. But, Bianca, you´re a putz."

"Excuse me?" Bianca gasped in shock.

"Now, look, I´m your godfather. I mean, I love ya. I couldn´t love ya any more if you were my own daughter. But the fact of the matter is you´re- Well, you´re a putz."

"Is there a point to this?" Bianca asked, hurt.

"Percy." Bianca's brow furrowed. "Bianca, there´s something... you have to know about him. You see, he—Well—Uh—He´s—You know—He´s not only your fiancée, he´s your guardian angel. Bianca, he saved your life! Now, he´s comin´ to see you today, and I want you to do yourself a favor. I want you to look deeply into his eyes and listen with the heart of a woman who has just been given a second chance at life. And after two minutes, if you´re not madly in love with him, why, tell him you wanna break up, and you can go back to being a putz. But if in the two minutes you see what the rest of us only took seconds to see, you will propose to him this time and marry him before he has a chance to escape. Uh, before he comes, take a little time and think about...what an old putz just told ya. All right?" Chiron smiled and left.

"I haven't been attracted to a man since high school." Bianca muttered to herself.

XXX  
Percy walked into Bianca's room with the box of things the hospital orderly had given him. "Percy! Hi." Bianca smiled, sitting up.

"Hi. Um. I came to bring you back your things." Percy shrugged, placing the box on her hospital tray.

"Would you like a sandwich?" Bianca asked. Percy looked at the hospital sandwiches and shuddered.

"No, no. I´m okay. Thanks. Can I get you anything?"

"I wish I had my own clothes." Bianca sighed wistfully.

"Well, I like your, um, blue pinstripe…"

"Double-breasted?" Bianca asked, thinking of one of her suits.

"Yeah." Percy shrugged.

"Yeah, that´s my favorite too."

"Really?" Percy smiled awkwardly.

"Yeah…Please sit down." Percy complied gracelessly.

"I saw a picture of you, uh, when you saved the three squirrels." Percy said after a moment of silence.

"Oh. They never call. They never write." They laughed. "That was a long time ago." Percy nodded.'

"Yeah, I guess we, we don´t get to do many heroic things as an adult, huh?"

"Oh, that´s for sure." Bianca nodded. "You do, though!" she pointed to Percy.

 

"Oh, no. Jumping in front of that train was unusual." Percy said and then winced, it sounded like he was a cruel person now.

 

"I don´t think I´ve done anything truly heroic in my whole life." Bianca sighed. "I chased a purse-snatcher once."

 

"Well, that´s something." Percy offered.

"I pretended to pull a hamstring." Bianca admitted.

"Well, most people probably wouldn´t have chased after him in the first place. I mean, I work at the El. Believe me, I know. You give up your seat every day in the train."

" Well—" Bianca shrugged. "But that´s not heroic"

"It is to the person who sits in it." Percy smiled. " And you always gave me something to look forward to every day, so—"

"You know, you do remind me of someone." Bianca murmured. "It´s probably you." She laughed.

XXX  
"Hey, lookin´ good!" Nico said, walking into his sister's room to see the nurse Zoe helping her into a wheelchair.

"Yeah, well, they´re movin´ me to the second floor." Bianca fixed her robes.

"Great. Mind if I drove?" Nico asked Zoe.

"Uh, no problem. Uh, see you by the elevators." She said, moving to grab Bianca's things.

"Oh. Uh, it´s a little drafty." Bianca laughed.

"Here. I brought you some contraband." Nico handed her a tub of ice cream and a spoon.

 

"Oh. Chocolate peanut butter. Thanks." She said around a mouthful of ice cream. "Hey, Percy´s pretty terrific, isn´t he?"

"Oh, yeah." Nico swallowed his jealousy and hurt.

" We´re engaged, you know."

"Yeah, I heard that." Nico muttered.

"Now this I remember." Bianca pointed to her ice cream and Nico remembered that night he had walked Percy back to his apartment, sharing ice cream along the way. "Everything is better. Everything looks better, feels better. Even this chocolate peanut butter tastes better."

"Good. It´s fudge mint." Laughed at her.

"Whatever. I´m reborn." She laughed. Nico frowned, wondering where the witch that was his older sister went. "If you were a priest right now, I´d confess everything to you."

"No, no, don´t confess. I´m trying to be positive right now. Just eat your ice cream." Nico grumbled.

"I don´t even know what my secretary sent Mom and Dad for Christmas." Bianca confessed.

"It was a fruit basket. Now, look, I don´t wanna get in—"

"I´ve never been faithful to a woman. Do you think that's why I'm with a man?"

"I´m gonna leave." Nico muttered.

"Remember the squirrels?" Bianca exhaled.

"Don´t even say it." Nico gawped, feeling a strange sense of triumph.

"First I knocked them out of their nest with a rock."

"Bianca." Nico gasped.

"Then I saved them."

"Eww. Did you say any of this to Percy?" Nico hoped that she did, knowing that it would change Percy's perspective of her. Percy seemed like the kind of gentle soul who would despise someone for doing such a thing.

"That was in the past. I´m making a clean start with Percy. He is—He is—He—He—What is he?"

"I´d say that he gets under your skin as soon as you meet him. He drives you so nuts you don´t know whether to hug him or, or just really…arm wrestle him. He would go all the way to Europe just to get a stamp in his passport. I don´t know if that amounts to insanity...or just being really, really likable." Nico sighed and then looked at Bianca in horror, hoping she was out of it enough to not notice that he had pretty much confessed his love for her fiancée.

"No, that´s not it." Bianca said after a moment's thought. "But he´s gotta be really special. He´s gotta be. And I can spend the rest of my life finding out why. I don´t have to know now. I don´t have to know tomorrow. I don´t have to know in a year or ten years. I don´t—I don´t have to—I don´t have to have all the answers today, or—" Nico groaned and walked off without a word. "Maybe someday I´ll have a clue, but it doesn´t mean I can´t make a lifetime commitment. Does this make any sense?" Bianca asked just as Zoe approached.

"Not really, but that´s common after a head injury." Zoe said, placing the box on Bianca's lap.

"My shoes." Bianca smiled, looking at her strappy black heels.

XXX  
Percy stumbled to the hospital doors and ran into Chiron. "What´d they say?" Percy demanded instantly.

"Who?" Chiron murmured, pulling out a cigar.

"The DiAngelos. Are—Are they inside?"

"You missed ´em."

" Well, what was their reaction to the news?"

"I didn´t tell ´em yet." Chiron lit the cigar and smiled around it at her.

"What do you mean, Chiron? What a—Now what about Bianca?"

"Well, I didn´t tell her either. I—"

"What? Chiron, you said you were gonna handle this."

"I´ll handle it." Chiron said, placatingly.

"This is handling it? Chiron? Listen—"

"What?" Chiron grunted.

"You´re fired." Percy pushed around him and shoved his way into the elevator. A tall woman that looked to be missing her eyebrows, stormed in after him.

"Two, please." The witch demanded. Percy flinched at her harsh tone.

" Four, please." He murmured.

XXX  
Bianca was having a pleasant conversation about France with her new hospital roommate, Piper when she looked up and saw Thaila storm in.  
"Thaila!" she greeted cheerfully.

"Scumbag!" Thaila snapped in reply. Bianca blinked in shock. "You´re engaged?" Bianca nodded and smiled. "May I remind you that you proposed to me?"

"You said no. We broke up."

"No, no. I was confused. We stepped back." Thaila pouted.

"You moved to Portugal."

"Yes, well, well, I didn´t think you were going to run out and marry the first bimbo that you came across."

"Percy´s not a bimbo." Bianca snapped.

"Percy? Percy who?"

"I don´t remember."

"Liar!"

"I don´t him remember proposing. I was in a coma. I have amnesia." Bianca mused.

"Amnesia? Oh, well, now that´s rich. All right, fine. I want my stuff back." Thaila shrieked.

"Fine. Then I want my stuff back." Bianca snapped.

"What stuff?" she snarled.

"Your nose." Thaila gasped and covered her nose in horror.

"You can´t take my nose back."

"I paid for it." Bianca pointed out.

"Well, then, here." Thaila grabbed her boobs. "You paid for these too."

"Oh, keep ´em. I´m a changed woman, Thaila."

"Go ahead. Go ahead and marry her, you bitch." Thaila turned on her glittery heel and stopped out.

"Holy fuck, Bianca." Piper laughed. "Movin´ on to greener pastures."

"Yeah! You got it, pal. Bianca laughed. A few moments later Percy and Zoe walked it. "Percy!"

"Hi, Bianca. My god, you look really good."

"I feel really good." Bianca beamed. "You know what? Facing death makes a woman evaluate her life. And I´ve been thinkin´ about mine, and I haven´t liked what I´ve seen. I´ve seen a woman who has courtside tickets to the Bulls, a lucrative investment portfolio, an apartment on La Rue du Faubourg, Saint Honore."

"Where?" Percy asked, confused at the sudden language change.

"Paris." Piper squealed.

"But I´ve also seen a woman who has no one to trust. No one to want to have a son with." Percy turned scarlet at this. "You were there when I needed someone the most. You gave me a second chance at life. Took a coma to wake me up. My family loves you. I might as well love you. Percy James Jackson, will you marry me?" Zoe, who had been listening at the door fainted. Percy spun on his heel and rushed to help her.

XXX  
Nico sighed to himself. He opened the door to Percy's apartment complex dreading seeing him again. Nico was a realist. He loved Percy. But Percy was going to marry Bianca. Even if Percy was usually gay, he wasn't gay for Nico. Nico sighed and looked up to see Leo, wife beater and skinnies, per usual, flirting up a giant of a man.

"Your arms are lookin´ very big tonight." Leo chuckled.

"Why, thank you. I love your new cologne." The man said quietly.

"Yeah, it´s called ´Paris Guy.´ lt´s from France."

"Nice."

"How ya doin´?" Nico laughed as he approached them.

"Hey, are you goin´ to see Percy?" Leo asked.

"Yeah."

"He is the best-lookin´ babe in this building."

"Hey!" the muscle builder frowned.

"But you are the best-lookin´ babe on the third floor." Leo cooed. Nico snorted and rolled his eyes.

"Oh, Leo."

"Oh Connor,"

Nico snorted and knocked on Percy's door while the pair made out violently on the staircase. Percy grumbled to himself when he heard the knock on the door, thinking it was Leo. He had been trying on his tuxedo for the wedding.

"I don´t want any flowers from you, I am not wearing black underwear, and I definitely do not want to move in with you, Leo—" Percy yelled, pulling open the door to see Nico smiling at him. "Nico."

"Well, I don´t have any flowers, I wouldn´t mind seeing the black underwear, but under the circumstances, I don´t think we should move in together." Nico laughed.

"I thought you were Leo." Percy admitted, blushing.

"I get that a lot." Nico laughed.

"Do you wanna come in?"

"Yeah." Nico entered tentatively.

"Yeah?" Percy blushed, closing the door.

"Yeah. Wow. So that´s the wedding suit, huh?"

"Hmm?" Percy bit his lip, embarrassed to have been caught staring at Nico.

"The wedding tux."

"Yeah." Percy shrugged, pulling of the coat and hanging it up. Nico then realized that Percy was standing there in the tux shirt, red briefs and some novelty socks with wizard hats on them. He blushed and pulled a paper wrapped gift from his jacket.

"I just wanted to give you this before all the presents started to pile up. I was droppin´ off some furniture in Little ltaly. I looked in a window, and—" he shrugged as Percy tore the paper off.

"Florence." Percy breathed, looking at the snow globe.

"Florence." Nico agreed.

"Thank you. It´s really beautiful." Percy blushed and smiled, shaking it to watch it snow on his own little Italy.

"And I wanted to say that I think that Bianca..." Percy looked up curiously. "is a very lucky bitch."

"Thank you." Percy laughed.

"I had to say that because you´re gonna be my brother-in-law."

"Ha, ha, ha, ha." Percy laughed sarcastically. "Well, I guess we´ll be seeing a lot of each other then." Percy gulped realizing what a bad idea this wedding really was.

"I better get goin´." Nico opened the door and started down the stairs. Leo and Connor were gone. Nico hoped that they had at least taken it inside.

"Hey, Nico. Nico!" Percy called after him. Nico turned quickly to look up at him.

"Yeah?"

"Can you give me any reason why I shouldn´t marry your sister?" Percy asked, hoping that Nico would say that he should marry him instead.

"Oh." Nico gulped. He desperately wanted to tell Percy that he loved him but Percy loved Bianca. He was just getting cold feet. That's all this was. "I can´t." Percy nodded, tears in his eyes, telling Nico that it was the wrong answer. Before Nico could say anything Percy was locked back in his apartment.

XXX  
Percy stormed into Jason's office and slammed a sticky note onto his desk before storming out.  
"What´s this?" Jason called after him.

"It´s a wedding invitation." Percy scowled, turning back.

"Wait a minute. This is your wedding invitation."

"So?" Percy folded his arms defensively over his chest.

"Whom are we marrying?"

"Jason, Bianca DiAngelo."

"The coma gal? Are you insane?"

"Yes, Jason, I´m insane. Every day I go and I sit in a booth like a veal. I work every holiday. I go home to a cat. And now a rich and beautiful woman has asked me to marry her, and I have said yes. Okay, okay. That makes me a raving, total lunatic." Percy shouted, waving his arms willy nilly as he spoke.

"The wedding is tomorrow, Percy."

"I know it´s tomorrow, Jason. But you know what? I even wish it were yesterday. Because you know what? That would mean that today that l would be on my honeymoon, that I would finally have a stamp in my passport, and that it would say Italy on it!" Percy dropped into the chair opposite Jason's desk and shook as silent tears fell out of his eyes.  
"What happened with her brother?"  
"He didn´t want me." Percy sobbed brokenly. "He didn't want me, Jason."

XXX  
Nico stood beside his sister at the Hospital church's altar. Bianca was wearing a simple white dress with a black shawl draped over her shoulders, hiding the tubes of her IV. Nico desperately wanted to get out of there. He did not want to see his sister marry the love of his life.

"Maybe he forgot." Hades whispered to Persephone as the minutes ticked by and Percy wasn't there.

"A man doesn´t forget his wedding day." Persephone scowled.

"Maybe he´s stuck in traffic." Demeter volunteered.

"This isn´t— This looks— Does this look ridiculous?" Bianca asked, fiddling with her shawl.

" No, you look fine." Nico grumbled, not even looking at her.

"All right. All right. Well, you got the rings?"

"Yeah, I got the rings." Nico spat, still not looking at his older sister.

"What´s the matter with you, Nico?" Bianca snapped, hurt.

"You suck." Nico growled, kicking the carpeted floor.

"I suck, or the outfit sucks?" Bianca asked, hurt lacing her voice.

"It´s a toss-up." Nico sighed.

" Oh. Here he is." Hades declared as Percy walked in, wearing his dad's leather jacket over his tux. Persephone gestured to him that he was still wearing it and he winced, shrugging it off and hanging it on the IV of one of the hospital patients.

"He's just a little nervous." Persephone whispered to Hades.

"You´re not kiddin´." He chuckled.

"They're lovely." Hazel whispered as Percy ran down the aisle and stood beside Bianca at the altar.

"Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to join—" the priest began. Percy looked at Nico who was looking anywhere but at him and he knew he was making a huge mistake.

"I object." He said loudly.

"Jesus." Chiron muttered loudly.

"I-I-I didn´t get to that part yet." The priest stuttered.

"I would have to object too." Nico said and his family gasped.

"What about you?" the priest asked Bianca.

" Oh, I´m—I´m thinking." She murmured.

"What the hell is going on?" Hades demanded.

"I am in love with one your children." Percy said, turning to face him.

"I know." Hades said, confused.

"Not that one." Percy pointed to Bianca. "That one." He pointed to Nico. Gasps and whispered erupted throughout the room. Percy turned to see Bianca's hurt look and Nico was smiling slightly.

"Nico, what the hell did you do?" Hades gasped.

"He didn´t do anything. He didn´t do anything." Percy whispered, biting his lip. "It was me. It was all me." He paused and looked at Demeter to make sure she wouldn't have a heart attack on them. "Um, Demeter, how you doin´? You doin´ okay?" he asked. Demeter responded by smiling and snapping a picture of him. "Um, do you remember that day at the hospital? Of course you remember that day at the hospital. Well, um, there was a little mix-up. Um, I saw Bianca get pushed onto the tracks, and, uh, I saved her life. But when I got to the hospital, they wouldn´t let me see her. So, um, the— someone told the doctor that l was her fiancée. Only, um—it´s not true. I was never engaged to Bianca."

"Why didn´t you say something?" Nico whispered, shocked to the core. Percy turned to him pleadingly.

"Because I didn´t know how to tell you." He whispered, tears streaming down his face. He turned back to the DiAngelo clan. "We never even met until that day on the tracks. And, um, it´s just when we were in the hospital room, everything happened so fast. And I couldn´t tell you the truth. And then I didn´t wanna tell you the truth because, um, the truth was that I fell in love with you."

"You fell in love with me?" Hades gaped.

" No. No—" Percy laughed. "Yes. All of you. I went from being all alone to being a fiancée, a daughter, a granddaughter, a brother and a friend." Percy turned toward Bianca. "I might have saved your life on the tracks that day. But you know what? You really saved mine. You allowed me to be a part of your family, and I haven´t had that in a really long time. And I just didn´t want to let go of that. So even though it was just for a little while, I will love them always. I´m very sorry. Oh, um, and I´m very sorry about your carpet." Percy said, walking back down the aisle as Thaila stormed in.

"What about my carpet?" Bianca called after him.

"Bianca DiAngelo is engaged to me!" Thaila shrieked.

"Oh! Lord." Hades muttered.

"I object to this wedding." She declared.

"Get in line." The priest snapped.

"And I object to your objection." A brown haired man said, storming in behind Thaila.

"Who´s that?" Persephone asked.

"Thaila´s husband." Bianca replied.

"You proposed to a married woman?" Persephone shrieked.

"Yes. And l was in a coma when my brother makes a play for my sort of my fiancée." Bianca snapped.

"Bianca, how could you do this?" Persephone screeched. Everyone started shouting over each other and Nico looked up and met Percy's eyes. Percy pulled on his leather jacket, shrugged and disappeared out the chapel door.

XXX  
Percy opened his door to see Leo standing there in his usual getup. Percy smiled and leaned against the doorframe and raised an eyebrow.

"Hey, Percy, l just wanted to say that, uh, I´m sorry things didn´t work out with that guy. And, um, you know, right now you should get in touch with the child within, and, um, explore your feminine side, and, um, you know, don´t start eatin´ cookies and cake and stuff like that, because you´ll blow up like my Aunt Roberta, you know." Percy laughed. "And— You deserve better than that."

"So, um, how are things goin´ with, uh, Mister Third Floor?" Percy asked.

"He´s—" Leo waved his hands around and then started crying.

"Oh, Leo. Leo." Percy pulled him into his apartment, rubbing his back and letting him cry.

"Do you have any cookies?" Leo sobbed.

"No. But you know what? We can try on some of my ex-girlfriend's shoes."

"Okay" he sniffed.

"All right."

XXX

"Hey" Percy turned to see Katie packing up her purse. " Last day, huh?"

"Yeah." Percy shrugged.

"I´m sure gonna miss you." Katie squeezed Percy into a tight hug.

"I´m gonna miss you too." Percy echoed.

"Oh, we´ll see each other." Katie said, her tone implying violence if they didn't.

"Of course." Percy laughed.

"All right?"

"All right." Katie left and Percy sighed, turning back to his endless feed of tokens. He sighed, listening to the familiar clink, clink, clink of train tokens. Someone dropped their token and it make a different noise, a clearer noise. Percy didn't think too much of it, pulling it out only to find that it was a ring. He blinked at the simple gold band in shock. He looked up to see Nico, Hades, Persephone, Demeter, Chiron and Hazel all smiling hugely at him.

"Percy." Nico smiled widely and Percy laughed. "I need to ask you a question."

"Get down on your knee. It´s more romantic." Demeter commanded. Percy laughed.

"He´s proposing! Let him do it." Persephone scowled.

"I am letting him do it." Demeter snapped back.

"Can I come in there, please?" Nico asked hopefully.

"I can´t." Percy shook his head. Nico winced, fearing a refusal. "Not without a token." Nico smiled, relieved and dropped a token into the bin. Percy let him through, biting his lip as Nico entered the booth.

"He´s doin´ it!" Persephone squealed as Nico placed his hands on the window besides Percy’s head and leaned in.

"Marry me?" he asked, biting his lip.

"Yeah." Percy smiled, pulling him in for a kiss. It was perfect and everything either of them could hope for. "I love you." Percy smiled when he pulled back.

"I love you back." Nico smiled, going in for another kiss.

So, Percy had planned to marry Bianca, but he married Nico instead. Thank goodness his father was right. Life doesn´t always turn out the way you plan. But Nico, Nico gave Percy the perfect gift: a stamp in his passport. He took Percy to Florence for their honeymoon. I guess you might say he gave him the world. Bianca once asked Percy when it was that he fell in love with Nico, and he told her, "It was while you were sleeping."


End file.
